ITAHARI, Oct 31: Nishan Neupane from Satashidham, Jhapa was in the queue to get the token of permit letter for driving license of motorbike at Koshi District Vehicle Management License Division Office, Itahari on Sunday. Nishan got the token after having arrived at the office since three in the morning and stood in line for eight hours. 

 “As I got the token, it felt like I had won the battle of Mahabharat. It is such a struggle to get your license made,” he said. 

Likewise, Diwas Dhakal from Dharan was also in the line from four in the morning and he got the token after being in line for nine hours. “It would have been better if the government could distribute the licenses in a more systematic way. This is a very painful system for us.”

As the department had published a notice stating that the tokens for bikes would be distributed on Sunday, a large number of public had reached the office on the same day. “There was line up to one kilometer since three in the morning and it increased during the day,” shared a local, Tanka Dahal. 

Meanwhile, police charged baton on the public after the massive crowd went out of hand. Due to the baton charge, Tika Niraula from Biratnagar among other youths got injured during the tussle. The baton charge was repeated in several rounds from 4 am till 2 pm to control the mass. “People were falling over each other and one got seriously injured, but the police managed the situation somehow,” said DSP Sanjaya Raut of Division Police Office Itahari.

According to Vehicle Management Office, License Division’s Head, Shyam Singh, they had not expected such a huge crowd and that created problems. “Earlier, we used to have 10,000 people at the maximum but this time there were 34,000 people for the token.” 

This was the first time in this year that the office announced the distribution of token. “Due to the mandatory rule of issuing smart card from the Nepali month of Sharwan, the office had to delay the process of opening form for the token. The token distributed on Sunday will be enough for this fiscal year,” added Singh.

Written exams for driving license will be conducted every 15 days.