India
The Gujarat government has decided to suspend the issuance of challans and fines for violating traffic rules this Diwali season.
Updated : Oct 22, 2022, 07:51 AM IST | Edited by : Vaishnawi Sinha
In an effort to make the festive season more enjoyable and joyful for the residents, the Gujarat government has decided to give an interesting gift to all those who are rushing to their Diwali parties ahead of the celebrations.
Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi announced on Friday that the traffic police in the state will not find any person violating traffic rules from October 21 to 27, in view of Diwali 2022 and the festive season, as per ANI reports.
The Gujarat government announced yesterday, “Starting today, 21st October, until 27th October Gujarat Traffic Police will not charge any fine from citizens. If any citizen is caught without a helmet or license or any other violation of traffic rules, then the police would advise them during this period.”
Sanghavi further said, “This does not mean you (the public) should not follow traffic rules, but if you make mistake, you will not be paying a fine for it.” Many people in Gujarat hailed the decision by the government, while others called it a gimmick to earn more votes during the elections.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Singh Chaudhary slammed the decision, saying that the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) was endangering the lives of the people during the Diwali 2022 season just for increasing their vote bank in the upcoming elections.
Taking to Twitter, the RLD chief tweeted, “What rubbish is this! Endangering the lives of motorists for votes!! Is this why EC delayed polls so such ridiculous #revdi could be scattered?”
Usually, the traffic violation fines in Gujarat range from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000, but for one week during the Diwali festive season, the government has decided to suspend fines for traffic offenders. This means that if you jump a red light, speed, or don’t wear your seatbelt, there will be no fine issued by the traffic police for these seven days.
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