Regional transport office in Dehradun is issuing licenses to the applicants without conducting proper driving test. This is because the department has no space for taking the driving test. The department officers say that they are helpless, though they know that the casual manner in which the driving licenses are being given are at least partly responsible for the accident spree taking nearly daily toll on lives. Besides, driving tests are being conducted on the bustling Rajpur Road, the transport officers say.
A senior transport officer further said that the shortage of Government-recognised training institutes for driving in Dehradun and other parts of the State is another serious problem.
“There is one such training institute -Institute of driving and Traffic Research-at Jhajra in Dehradun. With no other option left, the regional transport office is giving hundreds of licenses daily sans proper examination of the driving skill of the applicants,” he said.
Dwelling on the absence of space left with the department for taking driving tests, Dehradun regional transport officer Arvind Kumar Pandey said that they are perforce taking the mandatory driving tests on Rajpur Road.
“We know that things should not be done in such a cavalier fashion, particularly against the backdrop of spiralling road accidents. We are, however, helpless. We have sent a proposal to the state administration for providing us with the space for taking proper driving tests. But it has been gathering dust,” he lamented.
Another transport officer said that most of the drivers of commercial vehicles are semi- literate. “They take up the driving profession after they fail to land in any other job. We can easily understand the predicament of the passengers with such people being behind the wheels,” he said.
He further pointed out the paucity of employees and resources the department has been grappling with for long. “It is turning increasingly difficult for us to enforce the Motor Vehicle Act as effectively as we should, given the weaknesses we are beset with. A team comprising five employees are enforcing traffic regulation in the city. Two such teams are working in Rishikesh and Vikasnagar. There are just two check posts in the city, one at Kulhal and another at Asharodi,” he added.
Pandey said that they are trying to give their best for the work they are entrusted with despite the limitations they are grappling with.
“We are not found wanting as far as commitment is concerned. But we hope that administration would come forward to improve things for us,” he said.