Road Ministry to keep automation of vehicle service centres on track

Centre said it will continue with its digital push despite heavy resistance from the state transport authorities against automation of vehicle fitness centres which are set to be opened in the current year.

"We are getting heavy resistance from state transport authorities against automation of vehicle fitness centres, which are all set to be opened during current year 2017 in various states including Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The focus of Road Ministry this year is towards road safety and digitisation," Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra was quoted as saying in a statement.

He was speaking at a seminar on 'Pursuing 4Es for Road Safety in the Mission Mode' organised by the International Road Federation, a global body working for better and safer roads world wide.

Even recent increase in fee for driving license, test and fitness is being opposed by various organisations and states, Mitra added. The fee has been increased for the first time after 1989 and this is the reason that there is a huge gap between the old and the new fee. A learning licence that was earlier issued with a fee of Rs 30 has been increased to Rs 150 with an extra charge of driving test fee of Rs 50, he added.

In a bid to make roads safer in the country, the Road ministry released a fund of Rs 500 crore to rectify engineering faults on national highways.

Around 800 black spots have already been identified across the country.