60-hour training mandatory for drivers to obtain licence: Fouzul

"The government is introducing a mandatory 60-hour training programme for drivers under new regulations to ensure that driving licences are issued only to qualified individuals," said Road Transport and Bridges Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan today (27 January).

He was speaking as the chief guest at a training programme on skill development and awareness raising on noise pollution for professional transport drivers and workers, organised under the "Integrated and Participatory Project for Noise Pollution Control (3rd Revised)" at the BRTC Training Institute in Tejgaon.

"The existing system of issuing driving licences through committees is one of the most unusual practices in the world," the adviser said, adding that licences would now be issued based on driving skills, physical fitness, eyesight and other health tests after proper training.

Also serving as adviser to the ministries of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and Railways, Fouzul Kabir Khan said his biggest regret was the rising number of casualties from road accidents across the country.

"Road accidents are increasing every year, yet no effective initiatives are being taken to reduce them," he said, blaming bureaucratic inertia for obstructing meaningful reforms. "Bureaucracy is sitting on the people like a rock and ignoring public interest without humanitarian responsibility," he added.

The adviser said the initiative aims to save lives, reduce road fatalities, restore discipline on roads, and curb noise and air pollution to make Dhaka a more livable city.

Calling government officials servants of the people, he urged them to prioritise public interest and appealed to all concerned to act responsibly to ensure the success of the initiative.

Speaking as a special guest, Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and Water Resources, said that for the first time in the country's 54-year history, a practical partnership initiative of this nature had been launched.

She said the programme would only succeed if drivers understood its importance through training, noting that drivers themselves suffer most from excessive use of horns.

Under the Noise Pollution Rules, police have also been given responsibility to control noise pollution, allowing traffic sergeants to impose fines where necessary, she said.

"It is not possible to change people's behaviour through force or fines alone. This welfare-oriented initiative must reach the hearts of drivers," the adviser added.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Sheikh Moinuddin, BRTA Chairman Abu Momtaz Saad Uddin Ahmed and Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Farina Ahmed also spoke at the event.

Senior government officials, leaders of transport owners and workers' associations, representatives of civil society, government and private organisations, and journalists of print and electronic media were present.