Though the select committee did elaborate consultation process with all the key stakeholders for more than four months, finally it submitted the report to the Rajya Sabha, without proposing any amendment to the bill passed by the Lok Sabha, on the assurance of the transport minister Nitin Gadkari that all concerns will be addressed on the floor of the house, when the bill will be taken up for discussions. But finally when the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 23, the minister, who is having the image as the champion of road safety and committed to amend the bill, was missing in Rajya Sabha.Strengthening the LawStrengthening the law is the first step in the right direction.Some other concerns raised were about taking away the licensing powers from regional transport authorities, centralising the collection of transport related taxes by the Central government etc.The newly-adopted 2030 agenda for sustainable development has set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2020. If it doesn’t happen, it is for sure, this bill will not get passed during the present tenure of the government, since the entire county is moving towards an election mode.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report says that “skilled and empowered bystanders play a crucial role in saving lives” and “in order to enable bystanders to come forward and help injured persons, a supportive legal and ethical environment is needed”.Concerns of the StatesThe MVA Bill, 2017 is presently before the Rajya Sabha.The Central and state governments need to be accountable for this sorry state of affairs because of the weak law and poor enforcement of the same. Southern states have also collectively objected to some of the provisions, such as doing away with the minimum educational qualification for driving license applicants, ceiling of insurers’ liability, exempting private vehicles under mandatory automated fitness testing etc.Provision for Good SamaritansFifty per cent of those who killed in road accidents could have been saved, if they could have been rendered timely assistance. Half way the discussion was abandoned, since the minister was not present to hear the discussions, Electric Bike Brushless DC Motors for sale which is very unfortunate. Until and unless the minister takes the initiative, it is doubtful whether Rajya Sabha will again take up the bill for discussion in this session.
Without sustained action, road traffic crashes are predicted to become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030. MVA Bill, 2017 have incorporated a section on good samaritans, which clearly defines the roles, responsibilities and protective measures for good samaritans, gives some ray of hope. However, these guidelines were not implemented effectively at the state level and the police force needs to get used to these guidelines. Mandaviya introduced the bill in Rajya Sabha.George Cheriyan is director and Madhu Sudan Sharma is a senior programme officer at CUTS International, a global public policy research and advocacy group. Though minister had agreed for informal consultations with various political parties to iron out the differences, even after two weeks, no discussion had taken place, and hence created a new deadlock. Now, it is the time for the transport minister Nitin Gadkari to fulfil the assurance given to members of the select committee, address concerns and save the bill.
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