IEP Chandigarh, April 1
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday instructed the Police department to avoid undue harassment of the general public on account of Registration Certificate (RCs) and Driving licenses (DLs). Chairing a meeting here today, the Chief Minister said that due to acute shortage of smart chips printing of Driving licences and Vehicle registration certificate has been delayed much to the disappointment of the common man. He said that the state government is making strenuous efforts to ensure that the problem is resolved at the earliest so that people do not have to face any problem. Bhagwant Mann asked the Transport department to immediately set the things in order to ensure that the printing of the Driving licenses and Registration certificates start at the earliest. The Chief Minister also said that stern action should be taken against those who have not taken the remedial steps before the situation has aggravated to this extent. He asked the officers to conduct a time bound enquiry into the matter and submit a report to him so that the guilty can be nailed. Bhagwant Mann said that it is understandable that the delay in issuance of new Driving licenses and Registration Certificates has occurred due to shortage of chips which are imported from outside the country. However, the Chief Minister said that the situation could have been foreseen and a viable solution for it could have been taken well in advance. Meanwhile, he said that all approved licences and RCs are available on Sarathi and Vaahan portals adding that they can be downloaded on digilocker or any device and even printouts can be taken. Bhagwant Mann said that the RCs/ DLs downloaded from DigiLocker or M.Parivahan App should be considered by Police as valid documents and challan should not be issued to commuters showing these online documents.
