THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : After days of protests by driving school owners, the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) has made slight changes to its earlier circular directing modifications in licence test procedures.
Through a new order issued on Saturday, the MVD has opted to reinforce the existing road test, albeit with certain alterations. While the ‘H’ test will continue for the time being, the applicant will be allowed to take part in it test only after clearing the road test. The licence will be provided only to those applicants who clear both tests.
However, the driving schools must set up grounds for carrying out tests as mandated in the earlier circular issued by the department at the earliest.
A three-month concession has been allowed for using vehicles attached with dual clutch and brake for the driving test. It has also been decided to give a three-month concession to attach dashboard cameras and VLDC in vehicles used for the test. A six-month period has been allotted to conduct the driving test in vehicles which is more than 15 years old. The decision to limit daily tests to 30 has been increased to 40.
Of these, 25 have to be new applicants and the next ten to be considered must be candidates qualified for a retest and the rest five to those with employment/education/migration purposes.
Driving school workers to end boycott
The All-Kerala Driving School Workers Union (CITU) has decided to withdraw from boycotting driving tests by the Motor Vehicle Department. The decision was taken in view of the department’s decision to give relaxation in testing. The discussion between Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar and the union secretary Elamaram Kareem will be held on May 23. If the discussions fail, the union will start protest strike in front of the Secretariat, said general secretary C T Anil Kumar.