Transport Minister Perni Nani on Sunday announced a slew of measures targeting road safety, people-friendly services and achieving the department’s annual revenue target of ₹4,000 crore.
Mr. Nani convened a State-level meeting on road safety here, documenting the challenges being faced by the department.
It was attended by Principal Secretary (Transportation) T.M. Krishna Babu, Commissioner P.S.R. Sitaramanjaneyulu and other key officials.
“The existing method of offering slots for granting a learner’s licence will change from August 1, saving the applicants’ time,” said Mr. Nani. He directed the officials to identify land and prepare a plan for construction of a driving track at the unit level.
The majority of the 73 units each headed by a Motor Vehicle Inspector were not equipped with driving tracks and relying upon the roads for conducting the driving test. “The road safety fund (₹120 crore) allotted in the budget will be used for the construction of the driving tracks in consultation with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he said.
Life tax evasion
The transport authorities had been directed to crack the whip on the vehicle dealers and companies that allegedly did not show genuine data on the vehicle’s actual life tax during sales. “Verification of vehicles’ life tax documentation will earn a major share of income for the department, apart from keeping a vigil on the agencies that produce fake vehicle insurance documents,” said the Minister.
Fitness of school buses
“At least 4,000 school buses are yet to undergo the fitness test across the State.
The local officials should erect special boards in front of the schools with information on the status of their buses, alerting parents about the safety of students,” he said.
Mr. Nani said that a special uniform within the department would come into force from Tuesday as a part of the dress code.
