Wait continues for driving licence aspirants due to delay in opening of training institute in Ludhiana
It has been almost three months since the district administration and the regional transport authority received a notification from the state transport commissioner to open the institute jointly with the Red Cross Society
In an industrial city where the demand for commercial licences is on the rise, the delay in the opening of the institute of automotive and driving skills is causing a lot of inconvenience to aspirants of driving licences.
It has been almost three months since the district administration and the regional transport authority received a notification from the state transport commissioner to open the institute jointly with the Red Cross Society. However, the institute is yet to see the light of the day, leaving many candidates in the lurch.
As per the norms, candidates who wish to obtain a new driving licence or renew the existing one for heavy commercial vehicles have to undergo a mandatory two-day refresher course. However, there are only three institutes in the state that offer this course, two of which are located in Hoshiarpur and Mahuana, while the third institute in Ropar opened this month, providing little help to candidates from other parts of the state who have to travel all the way to complete the same.
State transport commissioner Manish Kumar had directed the deputy commissioner and RTA in a notification on February 13 this year to open an institute jointly with the officials of the Red Cross. In a notification, the state transport commissioner highlighted the need to start a two-day refresher course in Ludhiana for the drivers of commercial heavy vehicles.
According to officials of the RTA, a new institute is soon to open in Malerkotla as well. However, the delay in opening the institute in the city is causing a lot of inconvenience to aspirants as they have to wait for more than 30 days to obtain a time slot for the refresher course in Hoshiarpur and around 20 days waiting list is at the Muktsar institute.
To avoid the long wait, drivers often opt for urgent booking, paying ₹2,000 at different institutes to get a slot within three days.
The delay in opening the institute is also affecting the industry in the state, as there are more than 5 lakh registered commercial vehicles, but drivers for the same are not available, causing transporters to rely heavily on drivers from other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
JP Aggarwal, president of Ludhiana Goods Transport Association said, “We have requested the state transport commissioner and MP Sanjeev Arora to open a training school in the city and have also given a presentation to the concerned officials. There is shortage of drivers as compared to the commercial vehicles. This opening will also give employment to people as a large number of people fail to get a driving licence due to non-availability of training institutes in the city”.
Gurvinder Singh, general secretary of the Private School Bus Operator Welfare Association said, “I have given more than five memorandums to the concerned officials, requesting the opening of multiple skill centres in different cities of Punjab to avoid the inconvenience caused to drivers who have to travel to faraway places for refresher courses.”
During the two-day refresher course, the instructors teach the candidates about the different categories of driving licences, road safety, road signs, and vehicle maintenance. They also teach the aspirants about the rules and regulations of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Deputy commissioner Surabhi Malik stated that they have held multiple meetings with the RTA department and Red Cross regarding the opening of the skill centre and that this project would soon be announced.
Manish Kumar, state transport commissioner said, “I have notified the deputy commissioner and RTA to open a skill centre jointly with Red Cross in the month of February. I will be inquiring into the matter,” he said.
