Transport dept slams brakes on tout raj

KOLKATA: Public Vehicles Department (PVD), which has become unanimous with tout-raj, has moved with a decisive steps to do away with touts, the biggest blemish with the transport department. As a beginning, the PVD at its Beltala office started on-line tests for obtaining a learner’s license. Along with this, the PVD started a help-desk to guide people to different counters with fees details.At the gate, there is an announcement to take the help straight from the counters.
“It is such a pleasant relief for us. Even a couple of months ago, the counters used to be beyond the reach of common people. I had to pay double or thrice of what actual fee is. They would start with Rs 20 for getting a job done, but after taking your original papers, they would keep fleecing you till you empty your pockets. It would be one of the greatest successful jobs of this government, if they could make PVD free of touts,” said Anirban Nandy, who came for certificate of fitness (CF) for his bus.
The touts and driving schools, which have mushroomed all across the city, have not taken it kindly. They have already waged a war against the PVD director C Murugan. They first pleaded with him then threatened him and now started slandering against him. But all these only toughened his resolve to implement the online system with greater gusto. He also enjoys the support of his boss and administration. “We would felicitate him, if he can get rid of touts and bring in fair practices,” said Tapan Banerjee of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.
The first change that the transport department brought about at PVD is at physical level – some perceptible changes. The office used to look gloomy. There were dirts and cobwebs everywhere. The open space behind used to a stack yard of condemned automobiles. Automatically, a gentleman would prefer to grease the palms of a tout than being in the unhealthy environment long. All the counters were brought to the ground floor and back offices to the first and second floor. There was a bit of landscaping, building was repainted, counters rebuilt. A renovated, beautified PVD was inaugurated by the principal secretary (transport) Alapan Bandyopadhyay.
Now, for a learner’s license, the PVD has made a computerized test mandatory for the prospective motorists. For a driver, before getting the final license, one needs a learner’s license to practice driving and for getting the learner’s license the test on road safety rules is a must. One needs to take a five minutes test to answer ten questions. All these questions are based on road signage and how to drive safely. However, in order to qualify for the learner’s license one needs to answer six answers correctly out of ten, otherwise one would not be eligible. On Wednesday, Moumita Das (name changed) had appeared for the test for the second time to get the learners license to drive a two wheeler, but she failed to clear six answers and so needs to take the test again.
Transport officials said that earlier there was no screening of the candidates for learner’s license and one can just walk in and after paying the requisite fee. But as part of the road safety policy, the transport officials want drivers to be conversant about the road safety rules. For that the transport department has put on their website 187 questions regarding road safety and among them the prospective drivers need to answer 10 answers, which are selected at random by the computer. Right now the questions can be answered either in Bengali or English, but soon the PVD officials are installing Hindi also.
“I have not introduced any out-of-the-box idea. This is the prevalent practice elsewhere in the country. I am implementing the policies of my department. Touts have made the process chaotic and corrupt. Common people suffer for this. My role is to make things simpler for people. We have to tighten the license issuing process, otherwise ill-learned motorists would play havoc with human lives,” said Murugan.
Even for the test of road safety rules for illiterate persons, Murugan said that he plans to take the test himself by asking about road signs orally, as there is no bar for illiterate persons to be drivers. But he said that for driving commercial vehicles only an eligibility of class VIII standard is needed. However, no illiterate candidate has approached the PVD so far after the new system was started.
PVD officials said that now most of the candidates are applying for two wheelers with and without gear and light motor vehicle by paying Rs 130. However, earlier when the offline system was in use the candidates had to pay Rs 70 for each category of licnese. But the motor training schools used to mint money. “They charge me a hefty sum, nearly of Rs 5,000, for the driving license,” said Arup Kumar.
But it requires a much greater resolve to free the PVDs of its touts. Agents were found to have put up their 'offices' right outside the plush PVD buildings in Kasba and Salt Lake to trick people into paying extra money for any official work related to their vehicles.
Though the Kasba office has a comparatively less number of touts around it, at Salt Lake, in between the food-stalls, at least 10 makeshift agent-offices have cropped up, while a couple of other agents roam around the area, preying for possible clients.
In 2013, the West Bengal government made the PVD offices in Kasba and Salt Lake operational to decentralize the workload from the Beltala office.
"I have been in this business for the last 28 years," shared Nirmal Mondal, an unregistered agent who sits with a table and a couple of chairs right opposite the Beltala PVD like 30 others in this trade. Their USP is to get the job done in less time than it would actually take. A PVD officials busted the myths, a license renewal takes only 15 days whereas, the agents said it will at least take 45 days.
While the veterans at Beltala charge a meagre Rs 200-300 more than the actual cost of doing the paperwork, the ones around the new offices trick people into paying double or even triple the amount they are supposed to. The brokers around Kasba and Salt Lake ask for Rs 1200-1700 for a new license that actually costs Rs 500 (Rs 70 for learner's license + Rs 290 -- driving test and license fee + Rs 140 for the smart card). An agent at Kasba said that the maximum work is done through us and not directly. "We have to bribe the officials in every step to get it done in time. We only make a small profit of around Rs 200-300 in the process," he added.