5,440 driving licences issued across Bathinda dist in Dec
The Bathinda administration issued as many as 5,440 driving licences across the district in the month of December alone.
The Bathinda administration issued as many as 5,440 driving licences across the district in the month of December alone.
According to the district administration data, as many as 259 licences were issued every day.
It all began with the inception of the automated driving test online licensing and training centre as a pilot project at Naruana village in the district in April last year. The state government intends to open 32 such centres across the state; the second such centre was recently started in Muktsar district. The centre has so far issued 27,027 driving licences till December.
District transport officer (DTO) Latif Ahmed said due to state-of-the-art facilities at the centre, at least eight to nine people can be evaluated simultaneously for both learner’s and permanent licences. “It takes less than an hour to complete all formalities to get a learner’s licence, while the issuing of a permanent licence depends on the registration procedure,” Ahmed said.
The DTO said the driving licence is issued immediately if an applicant completes all formalities, including the practical test. The centre has different tracks for both learner’s and permanent licence applicants.
Deputy commissioner Basant Garg said the centre had started a new chapter in road safety allowing only trained and tested drivers to drive on the roads. He said the centre offered all facilities meant for getting learner’s and permanent driving licences under one roof.
Garg said for the training centre, the state government had liaisoned with Maruti for a 20-day module of theory and practical knowledge for beginners. The centre charges Rs 2,500 from those who want to learn driving.
Daljit Singh, one of the applicants from Mehraj village, said the facilities at the centre had made the entire process simpler as earlier one had to wait for 10-15 days to get a learner’s licence.