The government has decided to relax experience for driving licenses of medium to heavy vehicles until December 31 this year and transport sector leaders are justifying it allegedly to overcome shortage of drivers for medium to heavy vehicles.
The move seems to be a highly unusual one immediately after one week of young students’ movement in demand for safe roads and to stop killing of people by delinquent and inexperienced drivers in city roads and highways. It raises question on the motive behind it.
Under the existing rule, motorists having driving skill and license for light vehicles for three years can only apply for license to drive medium-sized vehicles. Similarly, drivers of medium-sized vehicles with at least three years experience can apply for license to drive heavy vehicles.
The government gazette issued by the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry on August 16 said the rule has been relaxed to make up the shortage of drivers for medium and heavy vehicles and the order will come into immediate effect.
The exemption has been given for a short time but it is enough time to upgrade licenses of thousands of unskilled drivers like the move that previously allowed thousands of helpers and cleaners of vehicles to become drives. Their only criteria was if they were able to recognize ‘cows and goats’ in the roads as per the formula advanced by a powerful Minister on that occasion.
Reports said, transport owners and workers leaders at a meeting at BRTA office on August 11 decided to upgrade the licenses as they faced criticism of using unskilled drivers in city roads with driving licenses for light and medium vehicles. They are the ones frequently causing accidents and indiscriminately killing people.
What seems to be working behind relaxing the requirement for licenses of heavy vehicles is that since there is no scope to create skilled drivers overnight, so upgrade the inexperienced ones to the category of experienced drivers and keep them on the wheels. This is how the owners are trying to keep their low paid unskilled drivers in job but question remains whether or not such elevation will minimize the potential risk of accidents.
We know that powerful government ministers are also leaders of the transport workers federation and bus owners association and the change of rules is not anyway difficult for them without upgrading the skill of the drivers.
We would like to say it is the business of the transport sector to create enough qualified drivers and there is no shortcut to training. But the transport lobby has taken the policy of sidetracking people’s concerns otherwise.
The upgrading of driving licenses of unskilled drivers particularly raises the question that their elevation to run heavy vehicles will not any way reduce the risk of accident. We must say the transport lobby must work to win people’s trust and go for training and skill development of drivers.
The government should also make arrangement for drivers training and force owners and workers to go for training for at least three months to improve their skill and awareness about safety of people’s lives. We can’t accept they way transport sector is trying to deceive people without qualitative improvement of drivers’ skill.
