Shipping minister Shajahan Khan on Thursday said that formal education should not be mandatory for 'skilled drivers' to get heavy driving licences.
'If a driver understands signals, can sign his name and recognise cows, goats and human beings, he should be eligible to get a driving licence as there is a huge demand for professional drivers in the country,' he said at a briefing in the secretariat.
Shajahan, labour-leader turned minister, called the press briefing a day after the High Court asked the authorities concerned to explain what action they had taken in connection with the reported issuance of licences to aspiring drivers without making them undergo the necessary tests.
It has been reported that the shipping minister's pressure caused the issuance of 10,000 driving licences without the conducting of any tests in 2010, and now he wants issuance of 24,630 more licences without testing the drivers.
Shajahan, however, denied allegations against him of exerting pressure on the communications ministry to give licences to so many drivers, as recommended by the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation, without testing them.
He said that the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority should consider the ground reality in issuing the driving licences for which an applicant has to go through written tests, viva voce and practical examinations.
Shajahan Khan, also the executive president of the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation, and communications minister Syed Abul Hossain came under fire from all sections of the people, including his Cabinet colleagues and lawmakers, after the death of internationally acclaimed film director Tareque Masud, ATN News' chief executive officer Ashfaque Munier and three others in a road accident on August 13.
It is widely believed that the number of fatal accidents has increased due to reckless driving and unskilled drivers.
Shajahan said that only the drivers should not be blamed road accidents.
He said that the federation did not exert any pressure for giving licences without testing the drivers.
'The overwhelming majority of the drivers are not educated. So we want the provision of written tests to be relaxed for efficient drivers because of the tremendous shortage of drivers,' he said in reply to a query.
He said that the BRTA was issuing only 10,000 licences against a demand of 60,000 every year. Around 44,000 new vehicles were being registered annually, he added.
As per the rules, an applicant gets a learner's licence after an initial test, a light licence after passing the tests after three months, a medium licence after passing another test after three years, and finally the heavy licence after another three years on successfully passing another test.
When asked about the reasons for the increase in road accidents, Shajahan explained that faulty engineering of vehicles, lack of training and lax enforcement of the laws were responsible for the accidents.
He told reporters that the communications ministry alone cannot cope with the growing transport sector that includes roads and railway.
He suggested a separate ministry for dealing with road transport. He said that the youth as well as the local government ministries should be given the authority to provide training in order to produce skilled drivers.
'Being a federation leader, I know all the drivers of the Madaripur union…Trade union leaders know who are the efficient drivers. And on this ground alone, the federation can recommend drivers and ask the BRTA to give them licences,' said Shajahan in reply to a question.
He claimed that he was a politician with high moral standards. 'But the media is spreading rumours against me without knowing anything about my family background.'
He said his family members had inherited the transport business of his father. 'Transport business is our family tradition. My father started the business back in 1962.'
Shajahan alleged that there were irregularities in the issuance of driving licences by the BRTA's officials.
Source : Nge Age
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