'No plans to scrap revised traffic fines'

kolkata: State Transport minister Firhad Hakim on Tuesday said the government had no plans to change the recent notification stating revised fines for vehicles violating traffic norms.

"State Transport Secretary has been directed to alert all RTOs in the state so that illegal vehicles are not on the road," said Hakim, after conducting a meeting with the union representatives of private and minibuses demanding withdrawal of notification.

The operators of seven major unions including private, minibuses, trucks and school buses have unanimously formed a committee named "Paribahan Bachao Committee" to protest against the hike in penalties.

The committee, comprising the members of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates, Mini Bus Operators' Co-Ordination Committee, All Bengal Bus Mini Bus Samannay Samiti, Bengal Bus Syndicate, West Bengal Bus and Mini Bus Owners' Association, West Bengal Contract Carriage Owners' and Operators' Association and Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators' Association, was formed after the state Transport Department issued a notification announcing a revision in the traffic fines on 24 January.

While the Transport department has declared a sharp increase in the fine chart with a hike by up to ten times of the previous amount, members of the committee also staged a demonstration in front of the Transport Department office at Kasba on Monday.

The traffic norm violation fine chart revision notification was released last week.