Court complex takes up DTO’s road for test drives

LUDHIANA: Though the old courts were shifted to the new complex behind minisecretariat several months ago, the change has left the District Transport Office (DTO) deprived off the only space it had for taking test drives of applicants for a driving license.
District transport officer Mukand Singh Sandhu concedes that the change has brought in space constraints, but adds that the DTO’s office manages the tests on the road adjacent to the mini secretariat, even though it covers hardly any distance.
If the test driver was to move out of the office complex, he would reach the main highway, Ferozepur Road, where it is impossible to run a test drive. All the same, Sandhu is optimistic that the DTO’s office is looking at other options like running the test at a driving training school. He doesn’t offer any names of the dozenodd such schools in the city but believes it can work.
‘‘Either I or the ADTO’s can run the test, and we can always ask the applicant to reach the grounds of a driving school where the applicants can be assessed in a better way. For now the office is looking for such a school,’’ he said.
However, many have found ways of doing away with regular procedure. Tripatjeet Kaur says she instead joined a driving school, from where she got a certificate which was sufficient to get her licence.
Subhash Chander, manager of Royal Motor Drive Training School, explains that an 18 days driving lesson clubbed with two days theory fetches the trainee a certificate which when submitted at the DTO is sufficient to attain a non-commercial driving licence.
Divesh Jindal, who is running Class Driving School, says that as per the Motor Vehicle Act rules and regulations, the non-commercial license can be obtained with driving school certificate, while a test run by the DTO’s office is necessary to get commercial driving license.