Rajya Sabha takes up Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019

New Delhi: Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was on Wednesday introduced in the Rajya Sabha with Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari asserting that the number of accidents can be reduced to half after the Bill becomes an Act.

The Bill, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, seeks to impose strict penalties on violation of traffic rules and address the dire state of road safety in the country.

"This is not a political subject. It is crucial in reducing the number of accidental deaths. It is a sensitive issue," he said, seeking cooperation from all sides in the passage of the Bill.

He said 15 lakh people die every year due to road accidents and the country is facing the shortage of 25 lakh trained drivers. The Bill has provisions for training drivers.

The bill proposes to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and also proposes the removal of the requirement for minimum educational qualification as long as the applicant holds a certificate from a driver training school or establishment.

Initiating the debate, Congress' B K Hariprasad said that the Bill was defective and was not for the road safety but to help corporates.

"I admit that there is corruption in the RTOs but you are handing it over to the dealers. The issue of tax collection should be with the government and not with private bodies. This is a defective Bill," he said.

BJP's Vinay Sahasrabuddhe hailed Gadkari for bringing the Bill and said it should be passed as it was the necessity of the time.

"Without delay, this historic Bill should be passed," he said.

Trinamool's Manish Gupta opposed the Bill, saying the party has problems with many of its provisions. He also said the Bill curtails the independence of the state governments.