Mustakque Alam, 20, of Parsa district arrived in Kathmandu Tuesday to get a two-wheeler license. “I waited for several months in the hope of getting the license in my own home town as that would have been cheaper for me than coming here. But I now need a license urgently and so I came here,” he said. [break]
Before introducing the new driving license trail system, DoTM was issuing licenses from 13 zones including Bagmati. But with the enforcement of the new trial system since April 14, DoTM has issued an order to its zonal offices to stop issuing licenses until they have the necessary physical infrastructure for the purpose.
Sharad Adhikari, technical director at DoTM, said as the department introduced the new trial system in the last months of last fiscal year, the department did not have a sufficient budget for building the infrastructure required for conducting driving tests in other parts of the country.
“We launched the trial system in Kathmandu as we had our own land and some budget as well. But the government has now allocated a sufficient budget for the purpose and the department will start working at a faster pace to resume service from its zonal offices,” he added.
He said though DoTM did not have a sufficient budget, it has been mulling replacement of the old trial system for a long time. “Unlike the old system, the new system is scientific but as the practical test requires more ground space and proper infrastructure, it is taking time,” he said.
Practical tests under the new trial system require two bigha of ground space, according to DoTM. And the government has allocated Rs.1,500,000 for construction of infrastructure at each trial center in the 13 zones.
In the last week of June, DoTM had directed its zonal offices to lease land for the purpose for a period of 10 years, with the rent not to exceed Rs. 100,000 a year, as the government does not have land of its own for the purpose.
“Now we have the budget, but acquiring the land has been a major challenge. In many places such as Butwal, Pokhara and Birgunj, the rent for land is high,” he said, adding, “But we are trying to manage the land requirement. In Nepalgunj, the DoTM zonal office has rented a plot and is preparing to build the infrastructure.”
Adhikari maintained that if everything goes as planned, DoTM will start resuming driving license tests in the other zones by the last week of September. “By next month, we will resume our services from many of our zonal offices. It will provide some relief to service seekers.”
Due to delay in the launch of new driving tests in other parts of the country, not only have service seekers been affected, but the country also is losing millions in revenue.
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