Captain Cabinet approves new Transport Policy

Thursday, 06/07/2017

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Chandigarh : Punjab cabinet under the leadership of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday gave not to new transport policy. The cabinet also abolished the system of DTOs and restructuring the Transport Department, in order to streamline the issuance of permits and licences across commercial and private transport vehicles.

The cabinet decided that the state government will gradually increase the state transport undertakings’ share in the luxury bus services to eventually make it state controlled. The share of State Transport Authority, Punjab Roadways and PRTC in the inter-state, point-to-point super integral coach service on contract carriage basis will be increased gradually, thus eventually ending the private control over these high-revenue bus routes, a spokesperson disclosed.

A special task force of the Vigilance Department and state police will be set up to crack down on all illegally plying buses, over a period of two months to weed out illegal buses in a phased manner. Under the Draft Transport Scheme-2017, formulated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, the new policy will be implemented after getting feedback from the public for 30-days and being fine-tuned according to inputs received from general public.

The state government will seek a time period of 3 months from the courts to implement the scheme. The new scheme was aimed at addressing the issues such as favouritism in allotment of permits, extensions given beyond the legal provisions on pick and choose basis, etc. A monthly roster will be prepared for private operators on a single route.

The permit or a copy of the permit number shall be displayed on the vehicle in the manner prescribed by the State Transport Commissioner. The policy also lays down rules for allotment of permits and transfer, and the eligibility criteria and reservation to be followed shall be notified by the State Government in exercise of its powers under Section 71 of the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. An operator can surrender his permit by way of notice of three months, or payment in lieu of notice of total dues payable for three months as assessed by the Secretary RTA.

Besides doing away with the system of DTOs, it will provide for registration of personal vehicles by SDMs, with driving licences to be issued on 32 Automated Driving Test Tracks itself by Assistant Transport Officers.

More on new policy

 Permits of 5,432 buses indulging extension of routes and another 6,700 mini buses, besides 78 integral luxury coaches will be cancelled and allotted afresh.

 The new policy will provide equal halting time at bus stands to State Transport Undertaking (STU) and private operated buses.

 Not more than 25 per cent of the total permits on a particular route shall be issued to one firm.

 Each operator has to ensure that buses are equipped with GPS tracking system and RFID.

 Cabinet has abolished the system of DTOs and SDMs will register personal vehicles.

 The work related to commercial vehicles will be handled by 11 Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices.

 Transport Scheme-2017, has been formulated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Board abolished

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the dissolution of Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board, which was constituted and headed by former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The council of ministers, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, decided to hand over the work of developing the area around Thein Dam at the Ranjit Sagar Lake as a tourism destination to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).

The move will help relieve the cash-strapped state government of an unnecessary financial burden, said an official spokesperson, giving details of the cabinet decision. The cabinet noted that the Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board had initiated the process of development of a tourist destination around the lake under PPP mode by taking funds from PIDB.

However, PIDB itself had sufficient funds and experience, as well as the necessary expertise, to execute a project of this scale and quality, the cabinet further observed, adding that this made the role of the Shivalik Dhauladhar Board completely redundant and the entire exercise a wasteful expenditure, which the state cannot afford.DP

cabinet bars carriage operators from forming unions

Chandigarh: In a bid to end cartelisation the Punjab cabinet approved rules which bar goods carriage operators from forming cartels or unions in the state. The Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules) 2017, were given the nod at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here, an official spokesperson said.

The proposed new rules will be placed in public domain for 30 days for any comments or objections, said the spokesperson, adding that the move was aimed at destroying the “mafia of good transporters who had cartelised the business over the past several years, obstructing the free and fair movement of goods transport, thereby also impacting industrial development of the state”.

To protect the interests of the transporters, it was also decided that the government should fix the minimum and maximum fares and freights for goods carriers, the spokesperson said.

Once these rules come into effect, no operator or permit holder of goods carriages shall be allowed to form a cartel denying freedom of choice to the consignors and consignees to engage the services of such operators or permit holders, the spokesperson said.

100 crallocated for road safety

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a Rs 100 crore Road Safety Fund, in accordance with the Supreme Court guidelines of 2016, to enhance public safety on the roads and to minimise road fatalities.

The fund will be set up by diverting 50 per cent of the compounding fee collected by road enforcement agencies i.e Police and the Transport departments, an official spokesperson disclosed after a cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The proposed fund will be on the pattern of a similar fund created by Kerala in 2007.

Besides spreading road safety awareness, the fund will be utilised to enable automatic detection of over-speeding and overloading of vehicles. It will also be used for installation of GPS system for monitoring of passenger and goods public carriers, as well as automatic vehicles fitness certification machines.

The money will also go into making available various devices to the police force to ensure road safety, such as body cameras, speed radars and breath analyzers. Besides, this fund will also be used for providing rescue and post-accident care services.