As hundreds of deaths continue to occur in Jammu and Kashmir due to road accidents every year, alleged corruption at regional transport offices and its board of inspections has come under scanner for issuing fraudulent fitness certificates.
From 2010 to 2022 Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 76,942 road accidents in which 12,429 people were killed, while 1,04,983 were injured, official data reveals.
Though lives claimed by road accidents in J&K are several times higher than those claimed by the militancy, the former go unnoticed.
A delegation of transporters said that they were having a tough time at the Chief Board of Inspection in the Regional Transport Office, Srinagar to get fitness certificates.
“There is a rate for everything in the office. Touts are hand-in-glove with the officials at Chief Board of Inspection office in Srinagar in issuing fitness certificates. Non-technical persons who are not even employees of the department have been assigned the duty to issue fitness certificates against huge bribes,” they alleged.
Quoting an example, the transporters said a well-knit network of corrupt officials was manipulating the system to bypass the legal process. “One has to pay anything between Rs 6 to 10 thousand to get fitness registration for his vehicle. Those who fail to pay have to wait for months,” they alleged.
An insider at the RTO office Srinagar said murky deals were being made in the department which cost lives on roads.
“There is a need for a thorough probe in all murky deals happening in the department. From registration to fitness and issuance of driving licences, everything is being done after taking bribes. This results in loss of lives on roads as vehicles which are unfit to ply are being passed fit,” he claimed.
The official said all individuals involved in issuing fitness certificates and driving licences must be held accountable, and mechanisms be implemented to prevent corruption and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) operations.
“Restoring public faith in the department is crucial to protect the rights of transporters and create a reliable and corruption-free system in line with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) guidelines,” he added.
Jamsheed Choudhary, Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO), Board of Inspection Srinagar, denied that any wrongdoings were happening in issuances of fitness certificates of old vehicles.
“We have a proper mechanism to check the fitness of vehicles and there is no question of corruption happening in my office,” he told DH.
Asked why non-technical people were assigned to handle technical assignments, Choudhary said, “I am myself an engineer and technically qualified to pass fitness of vehicles.”
However, the transporters said that it was not possible for one or two officials to check all the vehicles technically before passing the fitness certificates.
“How can one or two officials check hundreds of vehicles? Instead the job has been assigned to those who are not even employees of the department to pass the fitness,” they added.
During the parliament session, Union Minister of Road Transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had said in Lok Sabha that most of the accidents were caused due to human negligence. But in Jammu and Kashmir, lack of accountability of officials is another reason for the increase in accident deaths.
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