DoTM’s mandate's embossed number plate

Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Gagan Kumar Thapa has objected to the government’s edict to the citizens to have embossed number plates on their vehicles.

Demanding time in a session of the House of Representatives (HoR) today, the lawmaker objected to the government’s direction citing it was intended at causing trouble to the people unnecessarily.

His remarks followed the direction of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport to the public for compulsorily fixing the embossed number plate on vehicles.

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) on Friday issued a public notice to this regard and the instruction is said to be for those vehicles registered in the Bagmati and Gandaki provinces.

The lawmaker accused the government of overcharging the citizens seeking this service, and giving substandard service to the people. The notice demands owners of vehicles to have the embossed number plate fixed on their vehicles from coming July 17. “Over 1.5 million vehicles require to have the embossed number plate installed by the deadline for the implementation of the government’s instruction and it means the plate has to be fixed on over 5,500 vehicles on a daily basis,” the lawmaker said.

The government was expected to facilitate the citizens when it lacks the necessary physical infrastructure and human resources of dealing with the matter, but it resorted to unleashing tensions among the people, he added.

He was of the view of revising the charge of the number plate and making its prices reasonable with the maintenance of the quality. He urged the government to stop its force on the citizens, citing that otherwise the instruction would be defied by the public.

Lawmaker Thapa also expressed his concern over the missing Devanagari script in the embossed number plate. “Other countries have the embossed number plate in their own language, but it is not possible in Nepal,” he questioned.

Likewise, Samina Hussain said Hajj pilgrims were charged doubly and demanded action against those indulged in irregularities.

Similarly, Yagya Bahadur Bogati and Ram Bahadur Bista demanded action on those involved in the murder of 15-year-old Binod Shahi of Panchadeval Binayak municipality-4 in Achham.