Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari responded to a letter dated 27th November 2024 written by Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on various issues related Telangana Transport Department. Reacting to the Telangana government's proposals for the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR), Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that as per the IDTR guidelines, only one IDTR for a population of 2.5 crores will be eligible and already the IDTR is functional in Karimnagar.

Minister Gadkari stated that the state has qualified for three Regional Driving Training Centres (RDTCS) and Driving Training Centers (DTS) and the state government can send proposals for setting up of RDTC & DTC. He also mentioned that state governments have the power to set up/register new automatic testing stations. Nitin Gadkari also informed that the central government will provide 30% granting for automatic stations and Rs 1.50 crores per district will be given. He further said that top priority will be given to the districts notified by the ministry.

Nitin Gadkari stated that assistance will be provided to the equipment related to automatic testing stations except land purchase/compound wall. He replied that National Informatics Centre (NIC) has confirmed the switch to Sarathi and Vahan software and added that a special team has been appointed to implement the new vehicle driver software in Telangana to facilitate ease.

The Ministry Of Road Transport and Highways(MORTH) workshop--training program for development  of human resources in the Department of Transport has a scheme that updates officials on digital initiatives, including new rules, regulations, road safety measures, cross-investigation, intelligence transfer in system (ITS) to improve public transport. The program focuses on citizen-centric programms including ESCL Hyderabad where the state government will hold a training meeting

In addition to the expressways on national highways, the way side amenities (WSA) in the a range  between approximately 40-60 kilometers are provided with mandatory facilities  at the 50 Electric Vehicle charging stations provided by the WSA. Updating the driving training centre set up under any scheme in the state will be outside the purview of driving testing track automatic scheme. At present, the proposals of the states to update the driving training centre have been suggested as per the scheme provision.