the goan I network
PANAJI
In a reply that has confirmed that all the hullabaloo over High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) in Goa, and the trouble the people were put through was for nothing, Minister for Transport Mauvin Gondinho on Wednesday said that the HSRP number plates for vehicles could be fitted any time in the next five years.
“The time frame given to the contractor to complete the work of fitment of HSRP to the vehicles in Goa is five years,” Godinho said in a written reply to a question posed by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat in the Assembly.
The Transport Department had in September last year come out with an elaborate month-by-month schedule for Goans to get HSRP fitted in keeping with Central government guidelines. Implementation of the same on the ground however, proved to be a mess, with people having to make several trips to their respective centres. There were also complaints that the whole thing was a fraud with no HSRP plates actually being fitted, even though the consultancy was charging people on the pretext of fitting these plates. (There is only a very subtle difference between an HSRP plate and a regular plate.)
Following the hullabaloo, the Department decided to scrap the entire schedule, and had put out a fresh announcement saying that the HSR plates could be fitted anytime in the next five years.
Currently, as per Mauvin’s reply, the contractor is carrying out the fitment works at eight different locations in the State : At the Asst Director of Transport, Panaji at KTCL depot, Porvorim, at Asst. Director of Transport Bicholim, opp. Maruti Showroom, asst Director of Transport, Pernem, at the new bus stand complex, at Asst Director of Transport Ponda, at the bus stand, at the Asst Director of Transport, Margao at APMC yard, Arlem, Margao, at Asst Director of Transport, Vasco at Baina, at Asst Director of Transport, Canacona, at the bus stand, and at Asst Director of Transport, Dharbandora at Sanjeevani Sugar Factory.
Following a complaint made by Kamat himself about the mess that the HSRP exercise was creating, the government had issued a notice to Real Mazon (the contractor) to provide proper counters and facilities for different groups of people like disabled, and senior citizens.
Kamat has also fired a host of other questions to the Minister like whether the government has any mechanism to monitor the work carried out by the contractor, and the details of the same with the relevant copies of the reports of the monitoring team.
