BJD, Congress demand extension of Dec 1 MV Act deadline

Members of the ruling BJD and the opposition Congress on Thursday demanded an extension of the December 1 deadline for the reintroduction of provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019.

The issue was raised in the Assembly during Zero Hour when senior BJD member Debiprasad Mishra said the people are facing difficulties in preparing required documents due to shortage of staff in different regional transport offices (RTOs).

He said all the RTOs except for the ones in Bhubaneswar are closed before the evening even as people wait in long queues to get their driving licenses and other documents prepared.

"The government should rethink about its earlier decision on reintroducing the strict provision under the MV Act, 2019 from December 1. The Speaker must give a ruling over the issue," Mishra said.

Another senior BJD member Pradeep Maharathy also supported Mishra and said the government should further extend the deadline by another three months so that the people can prepare their documents.

"The people should be given adequate time to prepare documents in order to avoid payment of a high rate of penalty," Maharathy said.

Congress member Taraprasad Bahinipati, Suresh Routray and others also supported the treasury bench members and demanded that the government should extend the deadline and facilitate people to prepare documents by opening more counters in RTOs and other camp offices for the purpose.

Keeping in view the concerns of the members, Speaker S N Patro said, "The transport minister may consider the issues raised by the members on the extension of the deadline for the reintroduction of MV Act provisions."

"I am aware of the rush at the RTO offices. Discussions are underway and necessary steps will be taken so that people do not suffer due to the re-enforcement of the norms.

"The state government is rethinking on its decision to re-implement the MV Act from December 1," Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera outside the House said.

Earlier, the state government which implemented the MV Act, 2019 in September, had announced that the new provisions would be implemented from December 1.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said that the people should be given three months time so that they can prepare documents required under the MV Act, 2019.