Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua issues instructions to make roads safe

Presiding over the meeting of Punjab State Transport Society here today, Mr. Janjua said that it is Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s firm commitment to provide safe, better civic services to the residents of the state in a transparent and easy manner. Besides technology based services are being given priority by the State Government. The Transport department must ensure checking of overloading vehicles. Similarly, the printing of the issued driving license and registration certificate should be improved, said the Chief Secretary.

The Chief Secretary said that the regional driving training centers being set up at Malerkotla, Batala and Kapurthala should be started within the stipulated time so that the residents of Majha, Malwa and Doaba will get services in their respective areas.

He further said that e-Challaning system is being started for online challan payment on the spot for transparency and saving people's time. Reducing the hassle of new learning license aspirants, it is being completely online. He further said the department should take necessary action for the transport bhawan to be built at Chandigarh and if any problem arises then also explore the possibility of building it at Mohali.

Mr. Janjua said that recently, in a step aimed at checking environmental pollution in state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann gave nod to draft of new Electric Vehicle policy for the state which envisages registration of 25% more electric vehicles as compared to last year. The Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also asserted that as per the new draft policy major thrust will be laid on cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala and Bathinda that cater to more than 50% vehicles in the state.

In the meeting, Secretary Transport Vikas Garg informed that 32 automated driving test tracks are running successfully in the state in which 17,36,163 driving tests were taken during the last six years. Similarly, Vahan 4.0 and Sarathi 4.0 web application are being run successfully by the transport department. As many as 55 smart online services are being provided by the department at 516 Seva Kenders. Similarly, for the registration of vehicles, the dealer does not need to deposit the form physically with the authority.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Governance Reforms Tejveer Singh, State Transport Commissioner Vimal Setia, Special Secretary Finance Mohammad Tayyab, Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana Surabhi Malik and Deputy Commissioner Mohali Amit Talwar.