IT has always been my endeavour to serve the homeland and highlight the problems of the nation through my pen. We should write about the deteriorating conditions of institutions instead of “Ji Huzuri´ so that we are not among those who mourn the sinking of an institution but among those who play our part in its improvement. In the world, a civilized and intelligent nation is recognized by how much it abides by the law.
When it comes to traffic rules, fines are imposed on motorways and highways so that people can be reformed. Sorry! In our country, due to inflation, the public has been burdened with heavy traffic fines simply because the government has to raise revenue. At the beginning of this year, following the approval of the Ministry of Communications, the National Highways and Motorway Police drastically increased the rate of fines for all types of traffic on all highways and motorways in the country – for example, for violating the speed limit. A fine of Rs 2,500 instead of Rs 750 was imposed on the car driver, Rs 10,000 on the bus and PSV driver. A fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed on unlicensed motorcycle, car and LTV drivers.
A fine of up to 10,000 rupees was imposed for driving passengers and goods vehicles without a license. The fine for overloading a cargo vehicle has been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. The reason for the increase in fines by the Motorway Police was to ensure enforcement of traffic rules. The question is whether there was any reduction in the violation of traffic rules after the heavy fines. I remember that when the fines were increased, some friends from the media expressed their apprehension that this increase was a new excuse to cut the pockets of the poor and inflationary public and that the Motorway Police was becoming like the traditional traffic police.
I regret to say that the motorway administration including the federal government is going in the wrong direction. The owners of the transport companies say that the Motorway Police now also get monthly challan targets. When it was inquired with the officers of the Motorway Police, they remained silent in the face of departmental pressure. Some of the senior officers kept their mouths shut, but avoided much discussion for expediency. The facts which have reached me through some sources are at the service of the readers. According to my information, when the rate of fines was increased at the beginning of this year, the number of violations of traffic rules decreased significantly, which also reduced the revenue of the government through fines.
In view of this situation, pressure was put on the field officers to increase the number of challans, after which a series of unjustified challans started by the Motorway Police which is still going on. I have no hesitation in saying that the image of the Motorway Police in the eyes of the public has been greatly affected by this attitude. It is not the field formation or junior officers who are responsible for it but the administration and government. It should have been that after the smart increase in fines, the focus would have been on ensuring the implementation of the highway traffic laws, but alas! In practice, the situation is the opposite. Motorway police officers have also become busy in the same way as the traditional police, which is affecting the poor or those noble citizens who have no strong recommendation.
The evaluation procedure of the Motorway Police is fundamentally flawed. In Punjab, the efficiency of the police is measured by comparing the number of FIRs registered year over year, which pressures officers to demonstrate improved performance at any cost. The Motorway Police has adopted a similar strategy, issuing more challans each day than the previous one, which adversely affects not only poor drivers but also transport companies. Recently, a field officer stopped several trucks and trailers on the Islamabad to Peshawar Motorway. Upon inquiry, he explained that their campaign against axle load control necessitated daily progress reports, leading to an increase in the number of challans issued.
There is little distinction between overloading on motorways and highways; vehicles are weighed before they are permitted to enter the motorway. According to the law, only vehicles within the weight limit should be allowed to travel. However, it has become standard practice to prohibit overloaded vehicles from entering the motorway under any circumstances, simultaneously imposing fines of Rs 10,000 or more. If overloaded vehicles are denied access as a punishment, what justification exists for fining their drivers? It should be viewed as good performance when an overloaded vehicle is sent back. Overloading campaigners also need to consider this broader context.
According to the officials, the roads are damaged due to overloading, but has it ever been seen that these roads are being built according to the international standards or the standards of which the contract is awarded? It is important that the traffic police within the cities, including the motorways, focus on improving the traffic instead of just fulfilling the quota of challans. Due to the current policies of the Motorway Police, the past performance of this organization has also been tarnished. If the standard of performance of a field officer is merely the number of challans, not how good the flow of traffic in his assigned area is and how well the traffic rules are followed in his area, then he is demotivated.
It is not known whose policy is to get maximum revenue through traffic challans, but due to this policy, the people have already hated the government and the performance of the motor police is also being questioned. The concerned authorities are requested to abandon the policy of meeting the target of challans in the name of a campaign. It is not an effective way of conducting awareness campaigns to collect fines from the public. First inform the public and then enforce it. The Ministry of Communication and the present government should seriously consider this. It is also necessary for the citizens to ensure the implementation of traffic rules in any case.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
