RTOs will be scrapped soon, says Gadkari

Pune: Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that the central government was in the process of bringing in a law to scrap regional transport offices (RTO) and replacing them with an efficient alternative system in the next few months.

Gadkari was delivering the J S Karandikar memorial lecture organized by the Pune Union of Working Journalists (PUWJ) here. Alleging harassment of citizens at the RTOs, Gadkari said that new technology systems would be used to nab traffic violators who would be served a notice at their doorsteps on breaking traffic rules. “If you go to court against the notice and lose the case, you will have to pay three times the fine," he said. The government was preparing a plan to improve traffic in urban areas with the help of the traffic models in the UK and other countries, Gadkari said

Gadkari came down heavily on social organizations and NGOs, saying they were a hurdle to development. "There are microscopic minorities that stop ongoing works and get excessive coverage in the media”, he said. Gadkari also said that power, mining and infrastructure projects were pending because of non-clearance from the forest and environment departments and major road projects were also held up because land acquisition had become a tedious procedure.

"I have promised the PM that within two years, I will give the nation 2% GDP from the port and road sector. There are difficulties along the way and expectations are high, but we are confident that we will be able to fulfill all promises. The people have rejected communal politics and divisive agendas and have voted for development," Gadkari concluded.