BJD, Congress demand extension of Dec 1 deadline to implement

Members of the ruling BJD and the opposition Congress on Thursday demanded extension of the December 1 deadline for 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 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 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 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 extension of the deadline for reintroduction of MV Act provisions."