In order to empower the rural youth for boosting their livelihood, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma on Wednesday launched stage carriage rural bus permits to the 136 unemployed youths of the district.Deputy Commissioner also initiated the service of home delivery of driving licenses and registration certificates (RCs) to people at their homes through postal department.Participating in the virtual launch of the various initiatives of transport department by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma on Wednesday distributed rural bus permits to the youth of district Ludhiana.He was also accompanied by MLA Surinder Dawar, Zila Parishad chairman Yadwinder Singh Jandiali, PMIDB chairman Amarjit Singh Tikka, DCC Urban president Ashwani Sharma, Gurdev Singh Lapran, Senior Deputy Mayor Sham Sunder Malhotra, Deputy Mayor Sarabjit Kaur, MC Councillors Mamta Ashu, Amrit Varsha Rampal, Harkaran Singh Vaid, ADC (General) Amarjit Bains, Secretary RTA Ludhiana Sandeep Singh Garha, besides several others.While inaugurating home delivery of driving licenses and Registration Certificates (RCs), the Deputy Commissioner said that Punjab is the first state in the Country to implement this unique system. He stated that a Centralized Card Personalization Centre (CCPC) has been established at Chandigarh, where all smart card based driving licenses and RCs would be centrally printed before being home delivered.During the launch of these initiatives through video conferencing, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also announced an ‘Open-Ended Mini Bus Permit Policy’, with no deadline for rural youth to apply for such a permit, while laying foundation stones of Rs 55.16 crore worth of high-tech State Transport Department institutes, including home delivery of driving licences.The Chief Minister also virtually launched distribution of 3000 mini bus permits for the rural youth to give a boost to the ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar te Karobar’ mission, with token presentation of permits to 5 beneficiaries. He said that while 3000 permits were being handed over today, while another 8000 would follow through the rest of the year, taking the total to be distributed by the end of the year to 11000, generating both direct and indirect employment.
Captain Amarinder directed the Transport Department to create a user-friendly online facility within the next three months for receipt and processing of applications of all bus permits to make the system far more transparent and eliminate corruption.These novel initiatives will go a long way in providing smooth rural connectivity and seamless delivery of citizen centric services, said the Chief Minister, lambasting the previous SAD-BJP regime for issuing illegal permits to chosen people without due publicity or adherence to legal procedures/rules.Recalling that Punjab government had promised cancellation of all illegal bus permits to ensure that genuine people get the benefit of the scheme, Captain Amarinder said under the transparent system adopted by the Transport Department, a public notice for mini bus permits was issued for the first time ever in newspapers. People were encouraged to apply online without any hassle, and as many as 12,384 applications were received.On the occasion, the Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) Kapurthala at a cost of Rs. 22.50 crore under Mission ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgaar te Karobar’, with training capacity of 20,000 drivers annually to impart quality training to rural youth, and thus generate employment avenues as skilled drivers within the country and abroad, besides creating qualified trainer base for drivers and instructors of other training institutes. He said the instituted had been planned during his previous tenure and he was happy that it had been realised now.The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of Vehicle Inspection and Certification Centre, Kapurthala at a cost of Rs. 17.16 crore with the aim to safeguard the passengers and pedestrians, besides reducing vehicular pollution. The Centre, with capacity to inspect 72,000 vehicles annually, would test the road worthiness of vehicles before driving, among other important features such as online appointment for vehicle testing, replacement of visual inspection with automated sensor based testing equipment, automatic inspection report after completion of inspection report without any human intervention.On this occasion, bus permits were handed over to 5 bus operators.