NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday made a strong pitch in Lok Sabha for the passage of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, saying it will weed out corruption, improve road safety and usher in the use of more technology to regulate traffic.
The Congress, however, accused the Union Government of trying to curtail powers of states with the proposed changes in law and also claimed that it will bring in privatisation in the sector.
Gadkari sought to allay the concerns of opposition, saying it will be entirely up to states to decide if they want to adopt the new law or not.
He said it was one of his failures as a minister that he could not bring down road accident fatalities by much from the average of 1.5 lakh deaths per year and asserted that the bill, if it becomes a law, will help tackle the menace.
The existing law is 30 years old and the penalty for traffic rule violators is very low, he said, adding that this does not instill fear of law.
The proposed legislation will also help check corruption, he said. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
