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Workshop held to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector

Published: Jan 08, 2025

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 08, 2025: THE Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) organised a two-day workshop on 6th January 2024 and 7th January 2024 at Bharat Mandapam to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector. The 1st day of the workshop on 6th January was conducted with Transport Secretaries of all States / UTs, and was chaired by Secretary RT&H, V Umashankar. Additional Secretary Transport, Mahmood Ahmed opened the session and set the themes for the brainstorming workshop on this day.

Following the 6th January workshop with the Government officials, the 7th January workshop was conducted with Hon'ble Transport Ministers of all States / UTs, and was chaired by Hon'ble RT&H Minister, Nitin Gadkari Ji, where key ideas from the 6th January workshop were further expanded and aligned between Central and State Government stakeholders of the Road Transport sector. The day concluded with the 42nd Transport Development Council (TDC) meeting where suggestions from the country's transport organizations (e.g., AIMTC, BOCI and others) were deliberated with the Hon'ble Ministers and Transport Government officials.

During the two-day workshop, the following topics were deliberated, and specific actions for respective stakeholders were aligned, to help propel the road transport ecosystem forward:

1. Sustainable Transport

a. Accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy: Expediting operationalization of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) by states, and standardization of audit requirements & ratings of scrapping centers are some of the ideas discussed in this theme.

b. Pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0: Revised PUCC guidelines were presented to ensure all the States are onboarded on them at the earliest.

c. Introduction of BS-VII norms: Timelines for introduction of new norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.

2. Safer Movement

a. Hon'ble RT&H Minister launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.

b. Improvement in road safety through technology (e-DAR, IRAD, Sanjaya, Naksha): Hon'ble RT&H launched Naksha (Data Driven Road Safety Stack) with three applications Sanjaya Portal, Field Perception Survey, Madras matrix for road safety and black spot identification. Live demos were given for all applications. States have committed to using these tools for black spot reduction. Deliberations were done to have single emergency toll free number across the country. States were briefed about HumSafar policy and Wayside Amenities along the National Highways which play a crucial role in providing driver convenience while travelling on Highways.

Mandating reflective tapes to avoid night accidents and leveraging ATMS for e-challan issuance in cases of road safety violations were also deliberated. To promote post-crash care, cashless treatment for road accident victims (toll free number 112) and compensation for hit & run victims were also deliberated.

c. Improvement in E-Rickshaw Safety: It was agreed that given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country, specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety need to be introduced.

d. Improvement in vehicular safety: For other vehicle categories, to improve the vehicular safety, deliberations were done for:

Upgradation in bus body code for improved safety and accessibility for divyangjans and senior citizens.

Scaling up of BNCAP for all 4W models of OEMs for safety rating

Introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks

Strict enforcement of Retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety

e. Implementation of Integrated Command Control Center for women safety in public service vehicles: Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking device (VLTD) for safety of women & children were discussed, where ideas such as linking permit of transport vehicles to VLTD status and leveraging geo-location linked to panic button trigger for enforcement agency will be actioned.

3. Smart Mobility for Increased Convenience of Citizens

a. Pan-India launch of all faceless transport services (Vahan, Sarathi): States to complete launch and integration of all Faceless services by end of Mar'25. Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration.

b Adoption of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS): STUs to focus in bringing intelligent system software and components, instead of only hardware. Open loop Smart card payment to be encouraged. Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) to be integrated with ERSS for enforcement.

c. Pan-India implementation of AITP, BH Series and HSRP in Vehicles: All these services are critical for ease of living and ease of doing business in India. On AITP, it was decided to form a committee to develop a detailed policy incorporating feedback from states. On HSRP, it was aligned that States will have all MoRTH empaneled vendors for HSRP affixation to reduce delays in HSRP implementation on account of litigation.

The workshops concluded with an address from Hon'ble Union Minister, Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari reinforcing the need to brings together all of these themes into a cohesive, forward-looking vision. Our collaborative efforts in this room will lay the foundation for a transport system that serves the needs of every citizen, contributes to our national development, and ensures a sustainable and safe future for all citizens.

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