Brain Stormer: Costly Drive

The decision of the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 will go a long way to bring a host of changes to the transport sector of the country. It is learnt that the proposed amendments are recommended by the S. K. Sharma Committee to revamp the decades old rules governing the crucial aspects of transport in the country.

Surprisingly, the new set of rules will directly affect the ordinary citizens first-it has proposed a steep hike in the fees for issue and renewal of driving licenses for all classes of vehicles. The license for driving a private vehicle will cost now Rs. 1200 instead of Rs. 320 charged earlier. The cost of driving lessons may rise because of the proposed increase in license issue and renewal of driving schools across the country from Rs. 2500 to Rs. 10000. But what will badly affect the people is that the States are allowed to charge an additional fee for conducting driving tests.

The proposed changes in the new road transport rules are definitely making driving costly. But it does no way guarantee an accountable or responsible driving which is the need of the hour. The changes in fees from driving licenses to lessons will help the government earning a huge amount of revenue. An appeal to the Transport Minister is that driving must be made safe by imposing extremely stringent laws so that no one dare to break the standard rules. Life on the road- for the drivers, commuters and the pedestrians must be safe by all means. Besides, the traffic police is to be given sweeping powers to handle offenders on the spot instead of initiating a lengthy legal battle for cases related to road accidents.

However cases of severe road mishaps must be brought to the book and should be issued exemplary punishments. Will there be a day when our roads will be safe for driving? When will we see average motorable roads? When are we going to see more traffic police, probably heavily armed, for 24X7? Will there be safety gadgets for traffic police to beat extreme weather conditions and particularly against pollution? Hope this all draws the attention of our transport department and will be incorporated in the next round of amendments of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. A proposal for costly drive should have been accompanied by a safe drive for all and good health for the traffic police as well.