Licence holds out little hope

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) till this June issued licences to 2.35 lakh heavy transport vehicle (HTV) drivers, of whom 1.89 lakh did not qualify through the standard procedure.
In response to a rule, BRTA Chairman Md Ayubur Rahman Khan on Sunday submitted a report to the High Court wherein it was mentioned that the below par drivers had been issued licences on "relaxed conditions".
Contacted, BRTA Director Tapan Kumar Sarker told The Daily Star that the written tests for these drivers were given in a relaxed manner and for this they are not considered as quality drivers as per BRTA rules.
In 2009, as many as 10,000 driving licences -- most of them for HTVs -- were issued under relaxed conditions in line with the recommendations of Driving Competency Test Board (DCTB), according to the BRTA report.
The daily Prothom Alo on August 15 ran a report in this connection where it stated that safety on roads was ignored, as BRTA had issued licences in 2009 in defiance of legal procedures under pressure from Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan and that he is now pressing for 24,500 more such licences.
Meanwhile, the BRTA report said 62 driving schools in the country, including 15 of the BRTC, can produce only 10,000 drivers a year while the required number is 30,000.
BRTA submitted the report in response to a public interest writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Bar Council's Legal Aid and Human Rights Committee's Chairman ZI Khan and Supreme Court lawyer Abantee Nurul.
A High Court bench headed by Justice Mirza Hussain Haider may pass an order today in connection with the reports submitted by the respondents concerned, Deputy Attorney General Razik Al Jalil told The Daily Star yesterday.
The police, the home affairs, communications and LGRD ministries, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and Roads and Highways Department also submitted reports laying out their steps to prevent road accidents and other related issues, the deputy attorney said.
On October 25, the HC directed the respondents concerned to furnish a list of licences issued till October 17, 2011 to the court by November 13 along with the examination results of successful candidates to whom the driving licences were issued.
The HC directives also asked the BRTA authority to respond to the Prothom Alo report in its compliance report.
In this respect, the BRTA authorities admitted that the Bangladesh Sarak Sramik Federation had submitted to them around 24,000 applications for driving licences under relaxed conditions, but no action was taken in this regard by the Road Division of the communications ministry or the BRTA.
However, the BRTA chairman urged the HC not to cancel the licences issued on relaxed conditions, its reason being that road communications contribute to 80 per cent of the total passenger transportation and 70 per cent of goods carried. He also cautioned that if those licences are cancelled, the road transportation system will be paralysed and trigger chaos beyond the control of the administration.
Meanwhile, in their compliance report on the same petition, the police authorities said they slap fines on and file cases against unruly drivers, check vehicles on the highways, compel vehicle owners to use black colour on the upper portion of headlights and prosecute speed violations as a way of curbing accidents. However, they are yet to take any preventive measures to make the 216 black spots identified by the Accident Research Institute safe.
The report also noted that police conduct special drives against vehicles plying the highways, prosecute age-old vehicles and traffic rules violators under the motor vehicle ordinance and also take legal action against fake drivers in order to ensure road safety and mitigate public suffering.