Even as a parliamentary panel revived a government plan to set up a nodal body to manage public transport system in the entire National Capital Region (NCR), Congress MP Sandip Dikshit demanded that at least the Delhi traffic police be brought under the state government.

The panel, in its forthcoming report on public transport, may ask the government to form a Metropolitan Mass Transport Authority to iron out the issues arising out of multiplicity of authorities in the NCR in public transport sector.

The move comes in the backdrop of the brutal rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old student on a chartered bus that was plying illegally on the road.

During inquiry by the panel, several loopholes in public transport system due to multiplicity of agencies came to light.

Panel chairman Sitaram Yechury reportedly said in the meeting that the new agency would co-ordinate with the state transport bodies, the administration of the different states, Delhi police and the central government to formulate a new, seamless “NCR public vehicle system”.

All modes of public transport will come under this “unified command” and the MMTA will be responsible for planning and executing mass transport system.

In the meeting, Dikshit — who offered to depose before the panel — made a strong pitch for bringing the traffic police under the Delhi government saying that transport policy and its enforcement agency be under same administration.

He rejected the argument that Delhi traffic police be controlled by the Centre because the movement of VVIPs was involved.

Dikshit argued that when the VVIPs, including the Prime Minister, travels to other states, the local administration arranges all logistics for their movement.