Tuesday, 24 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Terming the new vehicle scrappage policy of the Central Government impractical for transport operators, various transport associations in Dehradun alleged that this policy is meant to benefit only automobile manufacturers and companies. Talking about the policy, Ashok Grover from Dehradun Truck Association said that after the implementation of the policy, all 15 years old commercial vehicles and 20 years old passenger vehicles will be discarded which will affect the operators of more than 68 per cent of total commercial vehicles in the State that use old vehicles. “This policy is not practical and certainly not beneficial for commercial vehicle owners.
The Central Government says that this policy will help in eliminating all the unfit vehicles from roads that cause pollution too but it is actually to boost the manufacturing and sale of new automobiles,” stated Grover. He said that if the government goes ahead with this policy, thousands of people associated with the operation of commercial vehicles will become unemployed across the State. The president of Dehradun Mahanagar City Bus Seva Mahasangh, Vijay Vardhan Dandriyal also stated that the new scrappage policy is made to benefit the automobile manufacturers as scrapping of more vehicles will increase the sales of new vehicles.
“There is nothing beneficial in the policy for commercial vehicle owners. A vehicle owner generally gets 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total price of the vehicle after the scrappage but as per the policy, this amount has been reduced to four to six per cent,” stated Dandriyal. He also stated that the proper operation of vehicles depends on their regular maintenance rather than their manufacturing age. “I have recently written to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways mentioning how this scrappage policy will severely affect the commercial vehicle owners and made some recommendations too,” said Dandriyal. Pankaj Arora, the president of Doon Auto Rickshaw Union also said that they are against this policy and if required, they, along with other associations, will protest against the government. However, the president of Uttarakhand Vikram Jankalyan Sewa Samiti, Rajendra Kumar said that his association supports this policy. “No matter how well maintained you keep your vehicle, it has the limited ability to run on roads properly. I think this policy has all the good points and will be beneficial environmentally and economically too,” stated Kumar.
Besides this, many associations of commercial vehicles in the State are still baffled about the policy and stated that they will focus on it when the Uttarakhand Government will issue an order related to the policy.
