PUNE: The Road Safety Network, a coalition of NGOs working on the issue of road safety, has written to Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to include some much needed rules in the Motor Vehicles (MV) Amendment Bill 2019, which was recently passed by Lok Sabha and is still to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha.
In the letter addressed to Gadkari, the activists welcomed the passage of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2019.
Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar, which is a part of the National Road Safety Coalition, said, “The Bill was passed in April 2017 in the first term of the NDA government. But it was blocked in the Rajya Sabha due to concerns from some states about provisions seen as diluting their rights and privatisation of State Transport Undertakings.”
“Those concerns still remain, since many of the contentious clauses have not been retracted by the ministry. So, we hope that the government has a plan to ensure its passage in the upper house. Not a single opposition party objected to the clauses in the Bill related to road safety, which is a positive sign,” Gadgil added.
The letter stated that with over 400 people dying in road accidents every day, any delay in passage of the Bill is a matter of concern for road safety advocates. The coalition is hopeful that a more determined minister and extension of the Parliament session by five days may result in the passage of the Bill.
Suggestions given by the road safety network
