Ministry of Road Transport is supplementing govt efforts with new plans

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, under the direction of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, in coordination with the PMO and the Ministry of Health, has taken several steps for the work and facilities related to Covid-19.

New Delhi: At a time, when India is battling the second wave of Covid-19, many government ministries, departments, and even private sector companies are extending their helping hand to the government. Several ministries of the Central government have launched plans related to Covid-19. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has also launched several schemes, which have been made public.

The Ministry claims that it has provided large-scale facilities related to the supply of oxygen and transporting of citizens by road traffic even during the Covid lockdown by making prior arrangements.

The Ministry claims that when there was a shortage of liquid medical oxygen in the country, the government announced to build oxygen plants in different states, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as a nodal agency, took responsibility for the electrical and civil work of these plants and completed them on time so that there is no hindrance in the supply of oxygen from one state to another.

Similarly, oxygen tankers have been made toll-free and the aim is to give prominence to oxygen tankers at every toll plazas and every check post without any hindrance like ambulance and emergency vehicles. The permit of these vehicles by the Ministry has also been extended further till 30 September 2021.

Apart from this, the Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLT) for uninterrupted movement of oxygen tankers has been installed by the Ministry. These GPS-aided vehicle location tracking devices ensure that oxygen tankers move freely and without any road diversion.

Apart from this, an advisory has been issued by the Ministry to all the States and Union Territory to create a pool of expert drivers who have experience of driving hazardous cargo by road.

At present, 500 such drivers will be appointed by the Ministry in collaboration with the state governments by next week. The number of drivers will be increased to 2500, who will be appointed to drive oxygen tankers by next month. These drivers will be trained by The Indian Chemical Council, National Skill Development Corporation, and Medical Oxygen Manufacturers.

The Ministry has also advised all the states to appoint local drivers for this training program and create a digital database of these drivers. The drivers should be vaccinated under special drive. If these drivers are infected with Covid-19 during the movement of oxygen, then they should be treated on priority in the state hospitals.

Along with this, the Ministry has extended the driving license registration certificate to the entire country. The licenses which are set to expire on February 1 will now be extended till June 29, 2021. Licenses renewal or new registration can also be done online with an Aadhaar card and the people will not need to go to RTO offices.