Driving tests across the State were disrupted for the third consecutive day on Monday with a section of driving school owners boycotting the tests and preventing the candidates from entering test venues. The All Kerala Driving School Owners Association and the union associated with the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) have intensified their protest against the reforms suggested by the State government.
At Muttathara in Thiruvananthapuram, protesters blocked the candidates who arrived at the driving test venue. In Ernakulam, the union affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), also took part in the protest, although it had withdrawn the strike against the reforms in the wake of State government giving more time to the school authorities to switch to the revised format. The tests were disrupted in Malappuram and Kozhikode as well.
Secretariat march
The Joint Council of Driving School Owners Associations in Kochi announced that its members would take out a Secretariat march on May 13 demanding the scrapping of the reforms. The striking unions are demanding the complete withdrawal of the circular on the reforms issued by the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD).
Though the State government issued a new order in the wake of protests against the reforms by giving more time for the driving school authorities to switch to the new mode, the protesters are adamant about the complete withdrawal of the reforms, including limiting the number of tests under a Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) to 40 a day and replacing the test vehicles older than 15 years.
MVD circular
The MVD, in a circular in February 2024, revamped the driving test format by introducing angular parking, parallel parking, zig-zag driving, and gradient tests, which shall be conducted on separate tracks, as part of the ground test. However, the State government on Saturday issued a new order amending the circular as authorities are yet to arrange driving test venues for light vehicles needed for the revised test format.
