Picture caption: P. Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Road Transport
& Highways receiving a memento from Dinesh Tyagi, Director- ICAT, in the
presence of Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry,
Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (extreme left) and
Norman Van Oudtshoorn, MD, TUV Rheinland
P. Radhakrishnan, Minister of
State for Road Transport & Highways, has stated that his ministry has
decided to put in place a suitably designed Inspection and Maintenance System
for vehicles and has sanctioned 10 model automated Inspection and Certification
Centres. These centres will be in the States of now in Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, U.P and Delhi on a pilot basis during 11th Plan. The
Minister added that the work relating to these centres is in progress and that
some of the centres will be operational within this financial year.
The Minister was speaking at a
two-day international symposium in New Delhi that began on November 20, 2014.
The International Symposium on Inspection & Certification (iSIC-2014) was
organised by the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), a
division of National Automotive Testing Research & Development
Infrastructure Project (NATRIP), in association with Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways (MoRTH), Government of India.
The symposium was inaugurated
by P. Radhakrishnan in the presence of Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary,
Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public
Enterprises, Dinesh Tyagi, Director- ICAT and M.J. Singh, Convener- iSIC- 2014.
This seminar also provided a
closer look to the States / UTs and the transports department to understand the
importance on Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance in India which shall go a long
way in setting up and operating the I&C centres in the different states.
The two-day deliberations would bring out learning’s which should help in the
smooth implementation of the Inspection and Certification centres.
The motor vehicle inspection
unit is all about checking the vehicle’s roadworthiness before driving. It
ensures that required components, parts and fixtures which address the safety
and pollution issues are present. In case, the vehicle does not pass through
the required fitness test, the same will not be permitted to ply on the roads.
These checks will help to
ensure safety of passengers or other road users such as pedestrians.
A properly maintained and
fully functioning vehicle meeting all safety requirements is less likely to be
involved in a road accident. Roadworthiness checks such as brakes, steering,
suspension, emissions transmission, electrical systems and assessment of
general condition of the vehicle including tyres not only contribute to road
safety by making sure the vehicle is functioning properly, they are also
important for environmental reasons.
These checks ensure that the
worst polluting, unworthy vehicles, are off the road. It checks on vehicles
which are operating without the statutory papers or fake documents. This also
makes the motoring public aware of the importance of maintaining vehicles and
keeping to the legal emission limits and safety standards all the time and not
just at the time of the test.
Inspection & certification
units will help in saving fuel and money as mechanical systems of the vehicle
affect fuel efficiency, reducing long-term maintenance costs, minimise harmful
exhaust emissions and protect the environment, increase reliability of the
vehicles and limit the risk of vehicle breakdown, besides increase the resale
value of the vehicles.
This International Symposium
on Vehicle Inspection and Certification on “Roadworthiness through Inspection”
allowed speakers to discuss and present international papers on topics such as
Challenges of emerging Technology for Technical Inspection/ Certification &
Maintenance, Periodic Technical Inspection (PTI)/ Road safety Inspection (RSI),
International Strategies/ Developments in improving Roadworthiness Inspection,
Mobile Stations for Road and Enforcement, etc.
By this symposium, around 250 participants from the
automotive industry benefited from the papers and presentations on the Inspection
and Certification of vehicles. The
professionals who attended were related directly or indirectly to the
automotive and general test-lane manufacturers/ operators.