Bid goodbye to driving tests to get licence as Govt evolves alternative

New Delhi, Feb 5: A driving licence test, the only obstacle that stands between you and a piece of paper granting you permission to drive a vehicle, will soon be a distant memory with the government evolving a new mechanism. In order to impart quality driver training to the citizens to reduce road accidents in the country, the Central government has been planning to provide accreditation certificates to driver training centres in all states and Union Territories (UTs) by the end of this year. Those who will receive successful driver training from such centres will be "exempted from the requirement of driving test while applying for a driving licence". But the certificates will be provided to such institutes or training centres after they would achieve certain standards. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has initiated the move so as to improve driving excellence in order to save thousands lives during road accidents every year. The Ministry in this regard has issued a draft notification regarding accreditation of driver training centres. "...The Ministry has proposed detailed requirements to be met and procedures to be followed by such training centres before providing them accreditation," said a Ministry notification. Further, the Ministry has also provided that, any individual on successful completion of driver training from such centres, will be "exempted from the requirement of driving test while applying for a driving licence". For public awareness, the Ministry uploaded the draft notification regarding the move on its site on January 29 to improve public consultation. The Ministry will further issue its formal notification in later stage in the upcoming months expected in March or April, an official privy to the project, told IANS requesting anonymity. The step will also help the transport industry to have specially trained drivers, which will improve their efficiency and reduce road accidents. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total 4,37,396 road accidents were recorded across India in 2019, resulting in the death of 1,54,732 people and injuries to another 4,39,262. Another Transport Ministry official said that road safety has turned into a factor of utmost importance for the country's citizens as India is one of the busiest countries in the world in terms of road traffic due to Indian road network, spanning over five million kilometres, carried almost 90 per cent of the country's passenger traffic and about 65 per cent of the goods In the midst of all the depressing headlines in last year due to Covid, there was some good news as 20,300 fewer deaths in road accidents were noted while the pandemic was on its peak. As per the quarterly data provided by the states and UTs to the Supreme Court Committee on road safety 20,732 people lost their lives in road crashes between April and June 2020 compared to 41,032 during the same period in 2019 -- a fall of 49.47 per cent. Overall, in the first six-month of 2020, road deaths declined by nearly 23,400. While over 85 per cent of people's lives were saved when the lockdown was more stringent in the country. The data further said that the fatalities reduced by 8 per cent (3,089) before the lockdown was imposed (January to March) compared to 2019. (IANS)