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New Transport Policy To End The Transport Mafia Claims Punjab Govt
July 6, 2017 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Chandigarh: The Punjab government here on Wednesday to put an end to the monopolistic practices and cartelisation in the transport sector passed the much-awaited new Transport Policy, while also abolishing 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.
File Photo.
Refusing to succumb to political pressure from both the Congress and the SAD, the Cabinet decided that the state government will gradually increase the state transport undertakings’ share in the luxury bus service, currently controlled by the Badals’ 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 mafia control over these high-revenue bus routes, a spokesperson disclosed after a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Once the scheme is implemented, permits of as many as 5432 buses indulging in extension/diversion of routes and another 6700 mini buses, besides 78 integral luxury coaches, will be cancelled and allotted afresh.
It was also decided to set up a special task force of the vigilance department and the state police to crack down on all illegally plying buses, over a period of two months, to weed out all such buses in a phased manner, said the spokesperson.
Besides fixing time slabs for buses, the new scheme will also provide for equitable distribution of halting time at bus stands between the State Transport Undertaking (STU) and privately operated buses. A monthly roster will be prepared for private operators on a single route. The state government would be required to enable computer generation of rosters by providing the necessary software and technology within one year.
The government also laid down the Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules), 2017, barring good carriage operators from forming cartels or unions. To protect interests of transporters following the abolition of truck unions, it was also decided that the government should fix the minimum and maximum fares and freight for goods carriers. This would be done from time to time for various categories on per km basis.
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Related Topics: Capt. Amarinder Singh, Punjab Government, Punjab Politics, Transport Policy Punjab, Truck Union
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