The Punjab transport commissioner on Thursday admitted that 90% driver’s licences in the state are issued without conducting the driving proficiency test, a major cause of the high rate of road mishaps.
“The sad part is the youth between the age group of 15 and 34 years are main victims of road accidents. Over 54% accidents last year involved people from this age group,” said Harmail Singh Sra.
Sra said hardly any district used to conduct driving tests before the launch of automated driving test tracks on April 21 this year. The department is planning to make existing licence holders undergo the test as well, he said.
Sra said the new facility, which has been started at 32 locations in the state, has brought transparency in issuing driver’s licences. In the past two months, nearly 15,000 licences have been issued using the new technology.
“We are successfully running a centre in Muktsar district for issuing driver’s licence for heavy and commercial vehicles. Now, we are coming up with three new tracks at Gurdaspur, Kapurthala and Malerkotla with a budget of `4 crore each. These will be ready by this year-end,” he said.
Sra said the department is also coming up with a training institute at Kapurthala. Only those who get trained at this institute will be allowed to hold driving classes in the state, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sra said the department is also coming up with a training institute at Kapurthala. Only those who get trained at this institute will be allowed to hold driving classes in the state, he said.
{{/usCountry}}ON THE CARDS
Driving test of existing licence holders as well
Only those trained at govt institute to hold driving classes