State Transport Authority (S.T.A) after its constitution held its first meeting at Transport Commissioner Office Jammu in which M.L.A R.S Pura Dr.Gagan Bhagat,Transport Commissioner P.I Khateeb, for I.G.P Traffic S.P Traffic Sunil was present ,Additional Transport Commissioner Ajay Singh Jamwal ,Joint Transport Commissioner Vikas Sharma were present. Various important issues were discussed in the meeting in which threadbare discussion was held. Deliberations were held regarding two hundred fresh applications that were received for the issuance of Contract Carriage Permits, while briefing the Media Transport Commissioner said that there are around 45,000 vehicles have been granted contract carriage permit till date, and 35,000 of these vehicles are plying on specific routes as Stage carriage instead of Contract carriage which has created chaos in the rotational system of Transport in the State, when some operator finds some lucrative offer they ply their vehicles as contract carriages, for this reason a proposal to the government have been submitted vide Letter No:JK/TC/2016/2103 dated 15/03/2016, so that the issue be rectified. The issue of Letter of Authority (L.A) was also discussed in detail,Dr.Gagan Bhagat said that by issuing countless L.A’s for the purchase of the passenger vehicles in the category of Taxi-Maxi Cabs has created Traffic mismanagement which should be dealt on top priority , and the policy for the issuance of L.A’s should be immediately reviewed. He also raised the issue of Radio Taxi, in the city of Jammu, as the qualified renderer by the name of M/S Kehwah Xpress had not yet started the services in Jammu till date and the passengers who arrive at Jammu airport and Railway Station suffers a lot and to boost Tourism potential this Radio taxi service should be started early as possible, and the services of the Radio Taxi which was limited within the municipal limits should be extended to the Srinagar Airport and Railway Station Nowgam Srinagar. Cases sponsored by the J.K.E.D.I, Tourism and Employment Department, S.C,S.T & B.C Development Corporation which will benefit the unemployed youths were also discussed ,Dr.Gagan Bhagat said that these cases should be considered on top priority as the government is committed to provide the employment opportunity to the youths of the state. Six applications from the Leh-Laddakh region was disposed off, and three of them were converted into all India permit.Dr.Gagan Bhagat while talking to the media after the meeting said that we need a total overhaul of the State Transport System , we don’t have buses and while talking on the issue of establishing a place like Wagah at Suchetgarh we need a ten to twenty state of the art, high end buses in which the tourists love to travel and similarly open roof buses for Jammu sight viewing is also being discussed to boost tourism and to attract tourists.Dr.Gagan said that soon there will be A.C and latest buses which will ply on routes like R.S Pura-Jammu, Akhnoor-Jammu,Nagrota-Jammu and Kathua-Jammu so that the passengers gets an opportunity of luxurious travel in a affordable price, regarding females he said that “Pink Buses” are proposed for the girl students and the working women which will help the females to travel in a cozy and safe way.Dr Gagan Bhagat also discussed the issue of Driving Schools and asked the officers to prepare a proposal to take maximum benefit of the P.M’s Initiative of the Skill India so that the youth of Jammu & Kashmir is benefitted. Later on the Additional Transport Commissioner raised the issue of Pollution Checking centre in J&K and their efficiency and accuracy and later on it was decided that the issue will be discussed with the Pollution Control Board.
