Cabinet okays motor vehicle pact with neighbours

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for ease of transport between the four countries.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, as well as Minister for Shipping, said that the Cabinet has also approved a proposal to facilitate seamless road transport between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.

The Minister said the agreement will be signed in Bhutan later this month.

The agreement will regulate passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic between the countries. Each country will bear its own cost for the implementation of the agreement.

The Cabinet also agreed to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s convention number 185, which requires the Seafarer’s Identity Document to be biometric based.

“The proposed SID has provisions for bar coding of the biometrics based identity of seafarers and a centralised data base maintained in the issuing country, which can be accessed globally through an inter-operable and standard biometric template,” an official statement said.

“Indian seafarers holding an SID will be able to have unrestricted movement in foreign shores during leave, get recognition as identified seafarers in the global market, and have easy access to better job opportunities in the global maritime sector. Around 1.8 lakh seafarers will benefit from the ratification of this Convention,” the statement added. The government will not have to take on any expenditure and the project will be self sustaining.

In another decision, the Cabinet approved the Ministry for Shipping’s proposal for India’s accession to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage.

The convention ensures effective compensation is provided for damage caused by oil spills from fuel in ships’ bunkers.

The registered owner of every vessel has to maintain compulsory insurance cover which allows claim for compensation for pollution damage to be brought directly against the insurer.

In India, the Directorate General of Shipping will issue the certificate and in foreign countries the respective maritime authority will issue it.

No vessel will be permitted to enter or leave India without this certificate.

Further, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved two proposals for four-laning of two stretches of highways for a cumulative cost of close to ₹5,000 crore. The stretches are in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.