Speed Governors
In the previous Congress regime, the speed governors for all heavy commercial vehicles, including private passenger buses was introduced for which the then government faced stiff opposition. Then minister for transport, Pandurang madkaikar was removed from the Digambar Kamat cabinet and the portfolio was handed over to Sudin Dhavlikar, MGP legislator. From then on the transport department has been riddled with controversy.
The Congress however, had to withdraw the notification of the speed governors after the transporters announced a strike. The cost was very high in comparison with market rates. A contract was signed by the government at the cost of Rs 10,000 each, it was alleged by the Private Bus Owners Association of Goa based on RTI documents.
High Security Registration Plates
The government of Goa is still fighting to implement High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) after a Supreme Court order in 2006. The first tender was secured by Shimnit Utsch Pvt Ltd in 2008 but was later scrapped due to gross irregularities in the tendering process by the transport department. So far, the government has tendered the HSRP on four occasions but has failed to finalize on the various irregularities each time.
The transport department has faced a lot of allegation of corruption from the public and activists. Cases have been filled at the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) which are now being investigated. A total of 3,90,000 vehicles were fitted with HSRP up to January 2011 as the government terminated the contract with Shimnit Utsch following public protests across the state. Rates in Goa for fitting of the HSRP for a 4-wheeler was Rs 1200 and for a 2-wheeler was Rs 650 while the cost of the same plates otherwise is Rs 280 and Rs 180 respectively.
Appointment of AMVIs
Despite clear reports from the ACB who investigated the recruitment process of 28 Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors who were recruited during the previous Congress regime when Dhavlikar became the Transport Minister, the Goa government did not agree.
The appointments of the assistant motor vehicle inspectors (AMVIs) was in violation of Supreme Court orders based on documents produced by Social Activists who filed a case at the ACB. The ACB in turn, investigated the case and submitted their report to the state government.
The ACB, in its reports, expressed doubt over the selection process of the AMVIs. It was found in the investigation that forged documents were produced by selected candidates for the post. Out of the 29 selected candidates, 28 had forged at least one document.
Then Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar also announced in Panjim that he asked for the process of recruitment of 29 AMVIs to be scrapped but unfortunately, even he couldn’t stop put an end to it.
