Kathmandu, Mar. 31: The provincial governments have stepped up to usher uniform developments in transportation sector since provinces are responsible to manage transport related matters in their respective area.
Amid differences in vehicle fare, vehicle tax, driving license trial examination and road and vehicle conditions, the provincial authorities have decided to upgrade and operate the sector uniformly.
The decision came through a two-day meeting between transport ministers from all seven provinces and the federal government held in Pokhara on March 15-16.

The Gandaki Province Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, Urban Development and Transport Management had organised the meeting to discuss the problems faced by the provincial authorities in managing transportation services.

“The problems of all provincial transport departments are similar. This is why the meeting was organised. It helped to let the federal government to grasp the issues,” said Tikaram Paudel, spokesperson for Gandaki Province Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, Urban Development and Transport Management.

“The meeting had come up with 22 different points which transport ministers from seven provinces and Renu Kumari Yadav, Federal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, signed for implementation,” said Paudel.

The 22-point decision, which was received by The Rising Nepal, states that the authorities decided to make amounts related to vehicle taxes uniform and implement similar Vehicle Registration System (VRS) in all the provinces.
The provinces have also demanded to be provided with administrative capability in the system of Department of Transport Management (DoTM).

“The website and system will be upgraded to mitigate problems caused by system/server down. Several other loopholes will also be plugged,” the decision read.
As the DoTM, which works under the federal government, prints the driving license, the provinces have been assured of the printed licenses soon by Minister Yadav.
The provincial ministers also urged the DoTM to designate dedicated focal persons so that the concerns can be communicated easily.

“We all decided to prioritise use of electric vehicles and construction of infrastructure to assure quality commuting,” said Ghanshyam Dahal, Bagmati Province Minister for Labour, Employment and Transport.
All the provincial transport ministers also pledged to implement Vehicle Driving License Examination Conduction Guideline, 2077. Some amendments to the guideline like point-based license examination have not been implemented nation-wide.

As per a decision, the local levels will be directed to manage parking facilities in their respective areas.
The meeting also decided to request the Department of Roads to not disseminate budget based on source and power of respective province or local levels.
As the provincial governments are responsible for transport management, they have also expressed the need to allow the respective provincial governments to collect revenue from traffic rule violation and installation of embossed number plates.

“In the 22-point decision, there are points related to infrastructure as well,” said Paudel.
Speaking to The Rising Nepal on phone, Bagmati’s Transport Minister Dahal informed that they were preparing to meet the decisions like other six provincial ministries.
Officials at DoTM also assured that they were in coordination with provincial governments for improving the transport sector.

“The work of federal government is distributed among provinces now. There are some legal and administrative hurdles which will be solved over time. It might take some more time but we are working to make transport services qualitative,” said Dahal.

Gandaki’s Transport Ministry spokesperson Paudel argued that similar meetings should be conducted at least once a year. “Other provinces have showed interest in organising such meetings as the first one was fruitful. We look forward to coordinate with the federal and other provincial governments,” said Paudel.