Ponnam in Delhi, seeks Centre’s green signal to TG new projects

New Delhi: Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Wednesday urged the Centre to provide approval for various projects including establishing an Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) and also to construct a multi-level Automated Vehicle Fitness Testing Station in the state.

Ponnam Prabhakar met Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday. The Minister urged the Centre for approval for establishing IDTR in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Area under the 15th Finance Commission to meet the demand for driver training and also the Automated Vehicle Fitness Testing Station. He also wanted the Centre to help in establishment of an Integrated Command Control Centre for monitoring public vehicles to enhance road safety.

The Minister sought help in implementation of central portals in Telangana, integration of Telangana’s vehicle registration system with the VAHAN portal and driving licenses with the SARATHI portal, establishment of vehicle scrapping facilities, setting up Children Traffic Awareness Parks in government and private schools to promote road safety awareness.

Regarding the existing approvals, two Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) centres have already been approved. Administrative sanction has been granted for establishing 37 Automated Vehicle Fitness Testing Stations. Regarding the promotion of Electric Vehicles (EVs), the Minister said that the Telangana Government had waived 100 per cent of the road tax and registration fees for all categories of EVs purchased and registered in the state.

The Minister requested for Central Government support in land utilisation in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, electronic enforcement and e-challan automation, identifying national and state highways in the Hyderabad region for implementing electronic enforcement mechanisms, software transition for VAHAN and SARATHI, porting vehicle data maintained by the department to the National Register managed by NIC, requested NIC to assign a dedicated team to expedite the data transfer process securely without data loss, field training for MVIs and AMVIs, allocation of funds to provide high-quality, technical field training for Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) and Assistant MVIs (AMVIs), providing support for EV Infrastructure, assist in meeting the growing demand for EV charging stations while addressing evolving technological requirements.

Minister Ponnam Prabhakar also urged the Union Minister to allocate funds for upgrading several single-lane roads to double-lane roads in Husnabad constituency. The meeting was attended by MPs Mallu Ravi, Balaram Naik, Raghuram Reddy, Gaddam Vamsi Krishna and Suresh Shetkar.