State considers special colleges to teach driving

Alarmed with the increase in cases of rash driving, the state government wants to start technical colleges to impart training to drivers.

Alarmed with the increase in cases of rash driving, the state government wants to start technical colleges to impart training to drivers.

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Replying to a query raised in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, minister of state for transport Gulabrao Deokar said: “The government can set up drivers’ training university on the lines of technical universities, if it received a proposal from driving schools.”

Congress MLC Husain Dalwai said the university should have three-month syllabi that would teach students safe driving as well as other technicalities.

Meanwhile, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who also holds the transport department, said the government was considering a comprehensive modernisation of all the 45 regional transport offices (RTOs) across the state. “We are working on the plan to upgrade the transport department with modern technologies,” he said.

When Nationalist Congress Party MLC Prakash Binsale raised the issue of a stimulator lying idle at the Tardeo RTO, Chavan said the Central government rules did not allow learners to get their licence by practising on stimulators. “They can use them for upgrading the skills. However, to get a licence, a driver has to show his ability to actually drive the vehicle,” the CM said.

The stimulator was installed by the Western India Automobile Association at Tardeo but is still to be used.