Goa to go ahead with implementation of high security plates

Goa government has decided to go ahead with its decision to implement High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) in the state despite widespread agitation. “There is no question of rolling back our stand on HSRPs. The implementation of high security plates is mandatory as per Supreme Court directives,” state Transport Minister Ramakrishna Dhavalikar said. Digamber Kamat-led government is facing the wrath of agitators including its own party men for forcing HSRPs in the state.

Goa Pradesh Youth Congress Committee is spearheading an anti-HSRP agitation in the coastal state.Vehicle operators have also condemned it as an unnecessary financial burden on them. Dhavalikar said the state has to submit fortnightly review to the Union Surface Transport Ministry on the HSRP implementation. “There is no question of withdrawing the implementation when rule 50 of Motor Vehicle Act makes it mandatory,” he said.

Youth Congress activists, who had withdrawn their chain hunger strike after Dhavalikar assured them of a roll back on the decision last week, say they “feel cheated.” “The Transport minister should step down. He is betraying the masses,” Sankulp Amonkar, President, Goa Pradesh Youth Congress Committee said. He also said that the youth Congress along with the federation of vehicle operators will revive their agitation. “We will agitate till government scraps the entire tender and puts an end to the issue,” he said.