Anarchy in transport sector
It has become a predictable reaction of the government to initiate curative actions after a matter precipitates to a point such as we have witnessed in the present situation stemming in the wake of the killing of the two school students. We are glad to note that the government deems all the nine points of the students valid and have issued instructions to implement them. And this is what begs the question, as does the statement of the home minister a couple of days ago while addressing the students through the media that discipline would be restored in the transport sector once the road transport bill is passed in the next parliament.
The home minister's assurance, we are constrained to suggest, does not wash. We believe that equally important as the laws is the system that control the road transport sector, which has been made dysfunctional by the unholy nexus of a cabal with political backing. Regrettably, various agencies that control the system and implement the laws have become complicit too in creating the chaos.
New laws are not a natural remedy for any disorder. There is no dearth of laws in the country governing the road transport sector. What is missing is the failure or reluctance to implement the laws. What is also absent is the lack of political will to do anything about it. And lack of political will is clearly evident in the fact that the so-called road transport bill has been hanging since 2016. And it is only after the students took to the streets was it deemed fit to be vetted by the committee who had been sitting on it since November of last year.
The authorities should implement the existing laws forcefully. Waiting for a proposed law will be seen as an excuse for inaction.
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