By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, SEPT 16, 2017: The 38th meeting of Transport Development Council and State Transport Ministers is scheduled to be held at Vadodara in Gujarat on September 19, 2017. Mr Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation said in a statement yesterday that Transport Ministers of all states will come together in the day long meeting to discuss issues like public transport reforms, the status of Vahan and Sarathi sites under Transport National Register, Seamless Transport across state borders, identification of Black Spots, Digitalisation of payments, Inter-State transfer of private vehicles and citizen facilitation.

The Council meeting will give an opportunity to the state Transport Ministers to get an exposure on the new and upcoming reforms in the transport sector. There will be a discussion on the subject of Public Transport Reforms and way forward to Bus Ports. Director, Transport for London (TFL) will participate in this discussion via video conferencing, along with other experts in the sector. The Transport Ministers will also be taken on a visit to the modern Vadodara Bus Terminal and also theVadodara Automated Driving Testing Track. The objective is to give them a first hand exposure to such modern facilities, so that they can help develop the same in their respective states.

The Transport Development Council is the highest body to advise the Govt. of India on all matters relating to roads and road transport. The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways is the Chairman of the Council. The Transport Development Council meets at least once in a year.

In their meeting on 19th September the Transport Ministers will also discuss the issue of All India Tourist Bus Permits. In view of the apprehension raised by certain states about loss of revenue, it was decided to place the matter before the Group of Transport Ministers of States for consideration and recommendation.

The Council will also be apprized about the status regarding Vahan and Saarthi sites under Transport National Register. The Transport National Register currently comprises 21.2 Crore Vehicle Registration records and 11.5 Crore Driving License records covering more than 1300 RTOs across 36 states/UTs. This includes real-time data from a large number of RTOs which have now migrated to a Centralized architecture (450 Vahan sites and 650 Sarathi sites till now).

Regarding road safety the Ministry had asked all states to prepare action plans to reduce road accident fatalities. In addition to this, the Supreme Court appointed Road Safety Committee had also directed states to prepare target oriented action plans. In the upcoming meeting all states/UTs will furnish the action taken by them in this regard. The status of rectification of Black Spots will also be reviewed.

The Transport Council will also discuss Seamless Transport across state borders under the GST regime. A Task Force has been constituted by GST Council to suggest measures for creating an Eco-System for seamless road transport connectivity across the country. This would provide for integration of the proposed GST e-Way bill system with the VAAHAN platform of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and help in reducing barriers in road transport.

In order to promote digitalization of payments in the transport sector, a Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Transport Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh and comprising Transport Commissioners of Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Assam. The status in this regard will also be discussed.

The Council will also discuss the status of action they have taken with regard to the implementation of guidelines for the protection of Good Samaritans.