Bhubaneswar: With an aim to enhance security of women and children while traveling in buses and other public transport vehicles, the state government has decided to put online vehicle movement tracking system in place so that it can reach the vehicle in case of emergency.
State Commerce and Transport Department has recently approved a project and very soon additional transport commissioner (technical) will sign an MoU with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to implement it.
If the online tracking system is there to track movement of buses plying across the state, safety of passengers can be ensured.
Earlier, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had mandated vehicle location tracking (VLT) device and emergency buttons to be fitted in all public service vehicles with effect from April 1, 2018. Later, the deadline was extended January 1, 2019.
However, many states including Odisha have not implemented it till now due to fund constraints. The Centre, later, decided to fund the project under Nirbhaya Framework with an assistance of Rs332 crore.
The Centre would provide 60 per cent of assistance to Odisha. The project cost is estimated to be Rs 15.40 crore of which the central share is Rs 9.24 crore while the state government will bear Rs 6.16 crore.
The objective of the project is to improve safety of women and children in public service vehicles through the implementation of CMVR (Central Motor Vehicles Rules), sources said.
Accordingly, all specified public service vehicles will be equipped with VLT devices with multiple emergency buttons for requesting emergency response, the source has said.
PNN
