Chandigarh, February 20: Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal reviewed the 'Parivartan' project implemented in August last year to promote e-auto rickshaws in Gurugram during a meeting of the concerned officials called at the Public Works Rest House in Gurugram today.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also interacted with the representatives of Haryana Auto Driver Association about this project and apprised them about the decisions taken in today's meeting.
The Chief Minister, while interacting with the representatives of the Auto Drivers' Association, said that air pollution is a big issue in Gurugram, which is a matter of concern for the National Green Tribunal, the Supreme Court and Gurugram residents.
Taking a serious note of the increasing pollution levels Project 'Parivartan' was launched in Gurugram in August last year, in which incentives are being given to auto drivers who buy e-autos by replacing their diesel or petrol autos.
"I have also received the letter regarding the problems and difficulties faced by you, which was also discussed in the meeting today," said Sh. Manohar Lal while interacting with the representatives of the Auto Drivers Association.
Informing about the decisions taken in today's meeting, the Chief Minister said that as per the decision of the National Green Tribunal, diesel vehicles which are 10 years old and petrol vehicles older than 15 years cannot ply in the NCR region.
Keeping this decision in mind, in the first phase, diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years will be banned from the roads in Gurugram. Auto drivers falling in this category will be given sufficient time to change their autos, informed Sh. Manohar Lal.
He said that for their convenience, a camp will be organized on March 10, 2022, in which auto drivers can apply for new e-autos by giving their old autos. For this, the process will be simplified. In this way, the driver who changes the old auto will be given an amount of Rs 7500 along with the certificate by the scrap agency, added Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister further informed that after showing that certificate, when he buys a new e-auto, then he will get Rs. 30,000 from Gurugram Municipal Corporation, in addition to Rs. 35000 being given under the scheme run by Central Government.
In this way, the auto driver who changes the old auto will get a benefit of more than Rs. 80,000. Not only this, these auto drivers will also be assisted in getting the remaining amount financed from a bank to buy a new e-auto, added Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister also announced that the first auto driver who applies under the above process will be given a cash reward of Rs.21,000 on his behalf.
He also said that according to the decision of the NGT, the rule of ban on plying of diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years will be strictly implemented from April 1, 2022.
The Chief Minister said that it is the priority of the State Government to implement the orders of the NGT to reduce the level of air pollution in Gurugram.
He also said that about 100 charging stations would be provided by Municipal Corporation, Gurugram for e-autos. Besides his, private agencies will also be able to set up charging points.
Meanwhile, the Auto union representatives apprised the Chief Minister that according to an estimate, the auto driver saves about Rs 250 per day by replacing old auto with e-auto. Along with this, he also said that the auto driver association is with the government in this matter.
Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. D.S Dhesi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Chairman, Pollution Control Board, Sh P. Raghavendra Rao, Public Safety Advisor to Chief Minister, Sh. Anil Rao, Chief Executive Officer, GMDA, Sh. Sudhir Rajpal, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Sh. Navdeep Singh Virk, Police Commissioner, Smt. Kala Ramachandran, Municipal Commissioner, Sh. Mukesh Ahuja, Deputy Commissioner, Sh. Nishant Kumar Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena, and representatives of Haryana Auto Driver Association were present in the meeting.