Nagaland police to restock vehicular force, scrap vehicles over 15 years old

Kohima: Following directives from the Government of India on Vehicle Scrappage Policy 2021, Nagaland Police is gearing up to restock its vehicular force and take off the road old vehicles.

According to Home Minister Y Patton, close to 30 per cent of the force’s present vehicles would have to be scrapped since they are apparently above the cut-off year of over 15 years.

The Vehicle Scrappage Policy 2021 was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat at an Investor Summit.

This new policy will help to find the vehicles that are not fit for taking on the roads and as the name suggests old and unfit vehicles, creating pollution and harming the environment will be scrapped. The vehicle scrap policy will begin as soon as the car registration gets over.

After a defined period, a vehicle will undergo a fitness test. As per the Motor Vehicle Laws in the nation, a vehicle is considered fit for 15 years and once it crosses that period such vehicles begin polluting the environment when compared to a new one.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India is planning to promote the setting up of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities across the country. It will also encourage private and public participation in opening such centres.

The vehicles that are older than 20 years will be deregistered from June 1, 2024, for the private vehicles while commercial vehicles that are older than 15 years will likewise be deregistered from April 1, 2023, onwards. It will happen only when a vehicle fails the test or the registration certificate has not been issued.

This policy, said Patton, is expected to deal a huge blow to the working and efficiency of Nagaland police as all policing activities depend on vehicular support to ferry the police personnel to and fro.

At the same time procuring such a number of motor vehicles would have a huge bearing on the exchequer, especially for a cash-strapped state like Nagaland and this whole exercise would need additional budgetary allocation on a recurring basis, the home minister had said. Patton was given the charge of the Department of Home for the third consecutive term. 

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