LICENCE TO DRIVE

Imphal, Oct. 21: The Tatas have expressed an interest in setting up a locomotive training centre in Imphal East and the government is pushing the matter further to make the hub a reality.

“The government has decided to set up an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) as a locomotive training centre at Phaknung in Imphal East, about 8km from the city and Tata Motors is interested in helping the government set up the centre,” a source said.

The source said the company had expressed its willingness to help the government in the civil construction works and also provide all the required equipment for the training centre.

The centre will be able to impart training on automobile services and also introduce a motor driving course.

The government is hoping to benefit the people of the state by giving locomotive training and generating employment opportunities.

“We are going ahead with the project and will take up the matter very seriously so that the training centre comes up at the earliest. Tata Motors has assured us all possible help in setting up of the centre,” another official said.

Manipur has 32 ITIs in Imphal West, Imphal East, Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Senapati districts.

However, none of the institutes have courses on locomotives. Most of the training centres have courses on carpentry, stenography, electrical, plastic processing, wiring and computer and others.

Manipur also does not have a driving school. Sources said the state transport department issued driving licenses without experience certificates.

“A driving school is very necessary in order to train drivers. This will not only reduce road accident cases but also help the traffic police in maintaining traffic flow in cities,” the source said.

Though official statistics of road deaths in Manipur were not available, officials at the transport department said the state had a high rate of road accident deaths and this could primarily be attributed to rash driving by inexperienced drivers.

The state government will sign a memorandum of understanding with Tata Motors when everything is finalised, like acquiring land.

Sources said the matter came up for discussion during the one-day seminar on development for Imphal East held earlier this week in Imphal city.