THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : In the face of protests from driving school owners and instructors, the motor vehicle department could not conduct any driving tests on the fourth working day after the test reforms came into force, leaving hundreds of applicants in limbo.
The driving schools have stopped taking applicants for the test to protest against the ‘impractical’ conditions in the new order. They staged protests in front of the test grounds, blocking applicants and officers from entering the test ground.
A joint committee of various driving school owners’ associations, including those associated with AITUC and BMS, decided to launch a protest in front of the Secretariat on May 13. All Kerala Driving School Owners and Workers Union affiliated with CITU stayed away from the protest.
In the wake of protests, the MVD issued a new order giving more time for fixing cameras and replacing vehicles older than 15 years. But the demand for avoiding vehicles with double clutch for road tests and limiting the number of tests per day to 40 per centre resulted in fresh protest from school owners.
“The demand for vehicles without double clutch for road tests is a ploy to fail students. The applicants will have to wait endlessly in order to get the licence. The driving schools have to invest in two vehicles instead of one for the tests,” said Nazar Usman, general secretary of Motor Driving Owners Koottayma.
The driving school owners alleged that Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar was planning to centralise driving tests. They also criticised the minister for creating a rift among the owners by calling only CITU for talks.
The driving schools have challenged the reforms in court. However, they suffered a setback when the court refused to stay the implementation. The case will be heard again on May 21.
Agitation on May 13
A joint committee of various driving school owners’ associations, including those associated with AITUC and BMS, decided to launch a protest in front of the Secretariat on May 13. All Kerala Driving School Owners and Workers Union affiliated with CITU stayed away from the protest. In the wake of protests, the MVD issued a new order giving more time for fixing cameras and replacing vehicles older than 15 years.