Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin
Gadkari has once again emphasised that a new Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill will
be tabled in the winter session of Parliament with a view to bring about a new
Road Traffic Act. This Act, he said, will be at par with international Acts in
the Road Sector.
The Minister announced this while speaking at a workshop
on Road Safety in New Delhi. The Minister said that the existing Motor Vehicles
Act of 1988 has outlived its utility and in the fast changing traffic scenario,
a holistic Act is needed. He said, the draft of the proposed Act is already
reaching final stage and it will have features of the best practices of
developed countries like USA, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK.
Gadkari pointed out that every year around 1,38,000 people
are killed in road accidents, the total social cost of which is estimated to be
around Rs 1 lakh crore. Moreover, he said, 63pc of the road crash deaths occur
on National and State Highways. The
biggest problem faced in urban areas in addition to road safety is unprecedented
growth of vehicles leading to traffic congestion and increasing road traffic
violations, he noted.
The Minister, according to a press release issued by PIB,
said that due to lack of effective road engineering, faulty DPRs were made
leading to increasing road accidents and fatalities. Calling for total
transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, Gadkari said there is need to
fix accountability at the highest level for such large number of accidents in
the country. He also laid stress on enforcement and education for achieving
desired results on the ground. The Minister appreciated the role of Institute
of Road Traffic Education towards capacity building of road traffic management
based upon 25 years of their research.
Earlier in August 2014, Gadkari had said that the
government would introduce Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill in the next session of
Parliament to end malpractices in Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) across the
country. He had said that the Motor
Vehicles Act has become obsolete and it needs to be changed for ending
corruption in RTO offices. He said, the transport department will be linked to
e-governance for bringing total transparency and easy and hassle-free services
to the people.
Picture caption:
The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin
Gadkari addressing delegates at the inauguration of the 203rd meeting of the
Indian Road Congress, in New Delhi on August 19, 2014. Picture courtesy PIB.