Aiming to tide over opposition of States like Tamil Nadu, Telengana and West Bengal to the new Road Transport and Safety Bill which he plans to table in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Thursday sought to take them on board by asserting the proposed legislation does not intend to encroach upon their rights.
“The vision of the Bill is to provide a framework for safer, faster, cost-effective and inclusive movement of passengers and freight in the country,” said Gadkari, who was speaking at the Consultative Committee meeting of the MPs.
“The Bill is aimed to prevent bad road practices which are detrimental to public safety,” he said. When the Bill was circulated for consultation in October last year, the Tamil Nadu Government had opposed the proposed Road Safety Bill, labeling it as “an act of impingement on the federal structure.”
Tamil Nadu Transport Minister V Senthilbalaji was against the formation of the proposed National Road Safety Authority in the new Bill, saying that giving the body sweeping and wide-ranging powers for making regulations was unconstitutional as these powers were so far exercised by the States.
Telangana Transport Minister Mahender Reddy also opposed the Bill, saying that the absence of an effective control by the State Government in issues pertaining to driving license, fitness certificate and registration of vehicles may lead to the misuse of the provision by private agencies.
Earlier, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had also opposed the Bill, accusing it of infringing on States’ powers. “Road crashes cause an annual loss of three per cent to the country’s GDP. The issue demands an immediate solution and the Bill is a firm step towards this, and we want the States to cooperate,” said Gadkari.
“The National Road Safety Authority shall be accountable to Parliament and the Central Government. The newly-formed State Safety Authorities will act in accordance with the directions issued by the National Authority,” he said.
Gadkari also defended the move for a unified driving licensing system saying that it would bring in transparency, end corruption and mitigate duplication of licences from various regional transport offices.