Faced with growing discontentment over enforcement of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, in the State, the Odisha government on Monday gave a three-month window to people to get their papers ready.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed deep concern over the public resentment reported from some parts of the State, particularly Bhubaneswar, on account of enforcement of the provisions of the recently amended MV Act.
He directed the enforcement agencies not to go on an overdrive but rather counsel and guide the public to facilitate compliance with the amended provisions of the Act.
“The Transport Department has been directed to augment public services, strengthen the facilitation centres, open extra counters and conduct camps in public institutions so as to enable motor vehicle users to update their compliance status,” Mr. Patnaik said in a statement.
This process will continue over the next three months, he said.
Awareness campaign
While a massive road safety awareness campaign will be carried out to sensitise the public on the new norms, motor vehicle users have been urged to obey traffic rules and desist from dangerous driving which will endanger their lives and that of others.
Face-off
The CM’s order came two days after people and police fought a pitched battle at busy Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar over the enforcement of the amended Act. The face-off took place when people insisted on examining if police and other government vehicles had valid papers.
Odisha started enforcing the amended MV Act from September 1 and in the first four days, about ₹88 lakh in penalty was collected, which was among the highest collections in the country.