Commercial drivers' training hampered for fund constraint

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Munima Sultana
The government is yet to implement any plan effectively to train up commercial drivers, running light, heavy and passenger vehicles on roads with fake licences, risking lives of thousands of people.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) estimates that the number of drivers holding fake licence is around 500,000, a good number of whom run commercial vehicles.
BRTA officials said the number of fake commercial drivers is also increasing in the city, as most of the bus-owners employ drivers with no or fake licence, increasing the risks of accident.
They said the authority earlier conducted a programme to train the drivers throughout the country, but it is stopped now due to fund constraint.
Some 8,250 commercial drivers of buses and trucks, including 500 drivers of the capital were trained last year under the programme, costing Tk 2.5 million.
"The programme could not be continued for fund constraint, as the authority needs at least Tk 10 million to cover all drivers across the country," said a senior official.
The BRTA has so far issued 1.0 million licences against 1.5 million registered vehicles. However, more than 150,000 buses and trucks are now running throughout the country.
Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) provides training to nearly one thousand commercial drivers for heavy and light vehicles at a time from its six institutions.
Shamsul Hoque, director of Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said the number of accidents is increasing due to abundance of unskilled and fake licence-holding drivers.
He emphasised category-based training programme for all drivers to establish discipline on the streets and ensure people's safety.
Besides, the director said the government has to launch a salary-based recruitment system in the transport sector, ensuring necessary facilities for the drivers.
"This has to be done to keep the lives of the people secured, as majority of them are dependent on public transports," he added.