The wheels on this bus go around no more
The traffic police's mobile driving licence van turned out to be nothing but a public relations gimmick
The mobile driving licence vans were turned into mobile theatre vans (above) when the traffic police launched the new drive. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Once upon a time, the Karachi traffic police department launched a mobile driving licence van. It was to go around various neighbourhoods, universities and institutions and issue learners' licences to citizens.
The programme was proclaimed to be the first of its kind in the world, launched by the department at a grand ceremony with a lot of hullaballoo. The excitement soon died down and so did the programme.
The van was parked at Karachi Press Club for the first couple of days. Subsequently, it was taken to different universities, shopping centres, exhibition spaces and other frequently-visited places in the city. The aim of the service was to issue learners' licences to those citizens who found it difficult to go to the licence branch and stand in the long queues. "The mobile licence van was introduced to help people get a learners' licence at their doorstep," explained Mazhar, a sub-inspector at Clifton branch of the driving licence department. "The learner's licence used to be issued only after the officials were satisfied that the applicant was physically and mentally fit." He added that facility used to issue around 300 licences a day at one point.
According to Mazhar, all one needed to obtain a learning licence from that van was a photocopy of their Computerised National Identity Card and two passport-sized photographs. "A doctor in the van used to check the eyesight of the applicant, while a post office employee used to collect the fees," he said. "The charges were Rs100 for car, Rs50 for motorcycles and Rs150 for both. The best part was that the whole process hardly took 10 minutes."
On the other hand, officials at different licence branches lamented that a large sum of money was spent lavishly on the preparation and launching of the bus but no one paid heed on its functioning. "The main reason is that the service was intended to benefit the students of various universities and colleges, but it was not entertained by all of them," the official claimed. "When we approached the University of Karachi and Iqra University, they simply refused."
For his part, licence department DIG Aftab Pathan termed the whole scheme an 'absurd idea'. According to him, there was no precedence of such a van in the world and it was also a violation of the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1969. "How can you place a doctor along with all the requisite equipment in a van?" he questioned. "All the necessary paraphernalia of issuing a licence cannot be humanly installed in that bus." He, however, refused to comment on the cost of manufacturing the bus.
The service was launched by the Karachi police chief, AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo, who had announced plans to spread the service to other parts of the province. For now at least, the grand plans of AIG Thebo seem to be have been put on the backburner.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2015.
Once upon a time, the Karachi traffic police department launched a mobile driving licence van. It was to go around various neighbourhoods, universities and institutions and issue learners' licences to citizens.
The programme was proclaimed to be the first of its kind in the world, launched by the department at a grand ceremony with a lot of hullaballoo. The excitement soon died down and so did the programme.
The van was parked at Karachi Press Club for the first couple of days. Subsequently, it was taken to different universities, shopping centres, exhibition spaces and other frequently-visited places in the city. The aim of the service was to issue learners' licences to those citizens who found it difficult to go to the licence branch and stand in the long queues. "The mobile licence van was introduced to help people get a learners' licence at their doorstep," explained Mazhar, a sub-inspector at Clifton branch of the driving licence department. "The learner's licence used to be issued only after the officials were satisfied that the applicant was physically and mentally fit." He added that facility used to issue around 300 licences a day at one point.
According to Mazhar, all one needed to obtain a learning licence from that van was a photocopy of their Computerised National Identity Card and two passport-sized photographs. "A doctor in the van used to check the eyesight of the applicant, while a post office employee used to collect the fees," he said. "The charges were Rs100 for car, Rs50 for motorcycles and Rs150 for both. The best part was that the whole process hardly took 10 minutes."
On the other hand, officials at different licence branches lamented that a large sum of money was spent lavishly on the preparation and launching of the bus but no one paid heed on its functioning. "The main reason is that the service was intended to benefit the students of various universities and colleges, but it was not entertained by all of them," the official claimed. "When we approached the University of Karachi and Iqra University, they simply refused."
For his part, licence department DIG Aftab Pathan termed the whole scheme an 'absurd idea'. According to him, there was no precedence of such a van in the world and it was also a violation of the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1969. "How can you place a doctor along with all the requisite equipment in a van?" he questioned. "All the necessary paraphernalia of issuing a licence cannot be humanly installed in that bus." He, however, refused to comment on the cost of manufacturing the bus.
The service was launched by the Karachi police chief, AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo, who had announced plans to spread the service to other parts of the province. For now at least, the grand plans of AIG Thebo seem to be have been put on the backburner.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2015.