Bhubaneswar,Jan, 10: In a major step to prevent accidents involving Ama Bus services, the Transport Department has introduced strict new measures. From now on, drivers will be allowed to operate Ama Buses only after passing a screening test. The screening of drivers will be conducted through a third-party agency.
After a high-level meeting, Transport Secretary Usha Padhi shared this information. To curb Ama Bus accidents, a committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Secretary Usha Padhi. The committee includes senior officials such as the Transport Commissioner, DCP, Traffic DCP, CRUT officials, and others. The committee will review the situation once every month, the Secretary informed.
Following the high-level meeting, the Secretary stated that an Integrated Control Command System has been implemented for road safety. Monitoring will be carried out from the Smart City Office or the CRUT office. If an Ama Bus violates traffic rules, e-challans will be issued.
To ensure strict monitoring, a five-member high-level committee has been constituted. The Transport Department is also giving special importance to lane discipline, and this will be closely monitored on a monthly basis.
Drivers who demonstrate high levels of responsibility and sensitivity will be given incentives. However, if traffic rules are violated, challans will also be issued in the name of the concerned bus.
The Secretary further stated that the driver recruitment process will be made more stringent. Newly recruited drivers will undergo rigorous training, which will include:
Assessment of driving skills
Road safety awareness
Lane discipline
Behavioral standards evaluation
A mandatory five-day evaluation and testing program will be conducted before final approval.
To ensure strict compliance with safety norms, comprehensive monitoring will be carried out in the coming months, with close vigilance maintained. Referring to yesterday’s incident, the Secretary described it as “serious and unfortunate” and assured that all possible measures will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.