Vested Interests Threaten Odisha’s VLTD Safety

Bhubaneswar: A State like Odisha which is leading in the crime rates against women as per the NCRB data and the number of fatal road accidents, the Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) is a game-changer and acts as a third-eye for the law enforcement agencies.

Moyatra Suraksha Programme Launch

The State Transport Authority(STA) had started the ‘Moyatra Suraksha’ programme with its VLTD command and control centre at the RTO-II in Bhubaneswar which had a target to install VLTDs in 6.64 lakh goods carriers, two lakh light motor passenger vehicles  and 1.76 lakh taxis and passenger vehicles.

Government Funding and Delayed Implementation

The Central and State Government had provided funds to start the project with matching grants of Rs 5 crore each. But of late, efforts are on by some vested interests to hand over the entire operations to some VLTD manufacturers, who have been black-listed in neighbouring West Bengal and against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lodged a case for their dubious activities in Rajasthan.

Vendor Conflict of Interest Concerns

However, road safety expert Subrat Kumar Nanda said the VLTD manufacturers operating the control and command centre and other operations are in severe conflict of interest. It would completely compromise transparency in the entire process and it would sabotage the main aim of passenger safety and security. It would in the long run lead to the installation of cheap quality VLTDs with questionable performance.

“No political decision should over-ride passenger safety and particularly the security of women and girls using public transport. Several incidents of New Delhi’s Nirbhaya like incidents, in which women have been molested and raped, have been also unfortunately reported from Odisha also.  The State Government should keep this in mind before handing the VLTD operations to blacklisted manufacturers with a questionable track record,” Nanda said.

Robust Safety and Monitoring Features of VLTD

Besides, the money spent by Centre and the State Governments would go down the drain, he added. He further said the VLTD tracks all the moments of the driver. Most importantly, it will track down whether the driver is indulged in rash driving or over speeding. The device acts as a third-eye and it is monitored 24/7 by the VLTD command and control centre.

The unique feature about the VLTD is that it cannot be tampered with. This device records the moment of a vehicle in no network areas. It sends the data to the command centre, once it gets into the network coverage area. Explaining the advantages of VLTD Nanda said, “If anything happens, the first alert message will go to the owner of the vehicle, then to the Emergency Response System (ERS) and the State command centre. Besides, the nearest police station also receives the alert message, ” he added.

 Notably, in 2012, after the Nirbhaya case, the Central Government had sanctioned money to the Odisha Government from the Nirbhaya Fund to implement the VLTD system. However, it was not implemented. But it was only implemented in 2023, more than a decade after the Supreme Court made it mandatory to install VLTDs in vehicles.