To check monopoly in the transport business and provide employment opportunities to the youth of State, Punjab Transport department would complete the task of issuance of 5,000 new mini bus permits to the youth by March this year, state Transport Minister Razia Sultana said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister announced that the department has received about 12000 applications for mini bus permits and the process of issuing 5,000 permits would be completed by March 2021. Subsequently, extra route permits for buses would also be started from March.
To detect the movement of the buses and check the ticket theft, she said that it was also proposed to install a vehicle tracking system in all buses. The fleet of PUNBUS has already been equipped with the system and it would be installed in PRTC buses in the next six months.
Sultana said 600 new buses will be added to the state government's fleet in this year, adding that 350 buses will be procured for PUNBUS and 250 buses would be included in PRTC fleet to further strengthen the public transport of the state. Now, Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS have 1611 buses and PRTC has 1121 buses.The state government has also intensified efforts to provide modern facilities to the passengers at the bus stands. The new timetable of buses would also be implemented soon, she added.
The Transport Minister said that 6 automated vehicle inspection and certification centres would be set up in the state and the work has been commenced in this regard. Transport department would also set up two heavy vehicles driving test tracks at Batala and Malerkotla in addition to Mahuana and Muktsar. Transport department would soon launch a doorstep delivery of driving license and registration certificate, she added.
In another announcement, she said that it was proposed to introduce an e-challan system to check the violation of traffic rules so that people could drive more cautiously. Punjab has a plan to set up a Institute for Driving Training and Research at Kapurthala with a cost of Rs 18.50 crore through PPP mode for imparting training to the heavy vehicle drivers.
She also announced that a toll-free helpline 1800-180-0222 would be set up soon, where people can get the information about the status of their driving licences and registration certificates from 8am to 8pm (seven days a week).
