THE government’s promise of creating a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ seems to be destined as a mere pipe dream as effective measures have not been taken yet to trace stolen vehicles or regulate traffic using special number plates and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. As per the requirement of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), every four-wheel vehicle owner is to pay Tk 3,652 (and Tk 1,805 for two-three wheelers) as registration fees to avail the apparent services of post-theft tracking but due to inefficiency which is prevalent in all government sectors, the BRTA fails to track vehicles.
According to an English daily, the government has been forcing people to buy recto-reflecting number plates and RFID tags for their vehicles under a Tk 600 crore scheme that seems no use even after vehicle owners coughed up 130 crore of their hard-earned money to avail the necessary tracking services. Considered as a promising step in 2012, it was assumed that the new number plates would stop people from changing plates. The irony is that the tags can be peeled off using the right chemicals, making vehicles, especially cars and microbuses, more susceptible for ill- usage by criminals for snatching, kidnapping and extortion in the capital and elsewhere.
Reports state that the initiative to use new number plates was made in 2004 and experts also suggested the use of GPS (Global Positioning System) chips, which has a proven mechanism to track vehicles constantly all over countries. But the concerned Ministry opted for the less effective, time-consuming and costly RFID system, saying GPS would be pricier. Without even floating a tender, the government gave Bangladesh Army the job to import plates and the tags.
The ridiculousness of the issue is further amplified as reports clarify that there are only 12 tag reading devices in the country (that too only in Dhaka). These devices can only collect information when the vehicles are within 11 metres. The information is then transmitted to a central monitoring system at the BRTA Elenbari office. Unfortunately the devices are useless during power cuts and the monitoring is only done during office hours, if at all.
The sheer uselessness of the venture must be acknowledged by the government and they must take steps so that the tagging system can be used to track stolen vehicles or monitor horrendous Dhaka traffic. Even though 130 crore is a small amount for the government, many of the millions of citizens driving vehicles have a right to know how their money was utilized to keep them safe and that they are not being made fools by inept government officials who only know how to promise a digital future instead of deliver it.
