NEW DELHI, Aug 19: The Government will introduce Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill in the next session of Parliament and once enacted it will end malpractices in regional transport offices (RTOs) across the nation, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said.
“The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, being prepared in sync with practises in six advanced nations – USA, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK – will be introduced in the next session of Parliament. This will overhaul the sector bringing to an end the corrupt practises in RTOs,” Gadkari said on the sidelines of a meeting of Indian Roads Congress.
The Act has become obsolete in the present context and needs overhaul, he said, adding the new law is designed in a way that will provide permits online besides slapping fines on violators of traffic rules on the basis of recordings in camera.
“The new law will provide a corruption free and transparent system with a proper record of driving licenses. Data would be utilised in e-governance. International norms are there for vehicle design, pollution control on the basis of prevalent laws in six advanced nations – US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and UK,” he said.
“I have firm faith that the new law will end corrupt practises in RTOs through e-governance,” he said.
Earlier, addressing the Indian Road Congress meeting, the Minister said he had committed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Transport and Shipping sectors would contribute at least 2 per cent to the GDP of the country in next two years.
Admitting that the Highways sector was passing through a rough patch and 21 out of 51 road widening projects had to be dropped in absence of any bidder, Gadkari said developers dropped projects worth about Rs 50,000 crore in the absence of lack of land acquisition and delays in green nods.
“Not a single kilometre of highway network could be added in July which is not good but the Ministry has resolved to build 30 kms of highways a day in the next two years,” he said.
Gadkari said all efforts were on to bring the highways sector back on track and hurdles related to land acquisition were likely to be removed in a month’s span as he was heading an inter-ministerial group in this regard as per the directions of the PM.
“Seventy-five to eighty per cent of the projects stuck for green nods have been cleared and land acquisition process and clearances from Railways and Defence are being expedited,” he said urging officials to fast-track decision making process as delays amount to Rs 15 crore loss a day.
He said detailed project reports (DPRs) were being prepared in such a fashion that they overlooked vital security aspects like provisions of overbridges and underpasses in the name of economic viability, leading to higher number of road fatalities.
“Gone are the days when Planning Commission used to do planning for our roads and now the Ministry will prepare its own DPRs,” he said.
India amounted to a high 1.31 lakh death per annum, he said adding that he has asked officials to fix responsibility and accountability on builders and contractors.
He said his Ministry was also exploring ways to generate additional revenue through laying of optical fiber, power transmission, gas and iron ore slurry pipelines across the length of about one lakh km of National Highways.
Also it is proposed to set up road side amenities like restaurants, clubs, hotels, shops and parks on every 50 km stretch for commuters and drivers.
He said trees would now be transplanted in case of road construction.
The Minister also urged the Indian Roads Congress to lay emphasis on research and development for international standard road specifications and stressed the need for setting up an institute for the road sector for skill development. (PTI)
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