Without RCs and DLs, drivers face absolute harassment on the road: Bajwa.

Chandigarh, January 23

As lakhs of applicants have not been provided with driving licenses (DL) and registration certificates (RC) smart cards for the past two months, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday lambasted the Punjab Transport Department under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its utter failure to keep its promise to provide services at doorstep.

Citing a news report, Bajwa said that after M/s Smart Chip Pvt Ltd exited the project in November last year, over 2.5 lakh applicants have yet to get their DL and RC smart cards in the state. Meanwhile, the backlog is increasing every day as the new vendor has yet to start the work. 

“Due to the lack of RCs, the owners of the used vehicles find it really difficult to get the vehicle insurance. In such circumstances, if an accident occurs, who is going to be responsible? Apart from this, the drivers are subjected to police harassment. The AAP government’s promise to provide various services at doorstep has proven to be hollow,” Bajwa added.

Senior Congress Leader Bajwa said that the RC and DL applicants pay heavy taxes and cesses to the Punjab’s Transport Department. Therefore the Punjab government is duty-bound to provide service speedily. Meanwhile, the Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar owes an explanation to the applicants as to why should the applicants face inconvenience.

Qadian Legislator Bajwa said that the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been squandering crores of rupees from the Punjab exchequer on advertisements to create a highly misleading narrative about Rangla Punjab, whereas the reality is completely opposite. The government doesn’t even have funds to provide the DLs and RCs smart cards to vehicle owners. 

“The entire Punjab cabinet and the AAP leadership from Punjab have left the state in the lurch to campaigning for the Delhi elections. The people in Punjab appear to have been the least priority of the AAP government. The Punjabis are forced to bear the lax and negligent attitude of the state government,” Bajwa added.