Dec. 28: Tests for driving licences will now be held under CCTV surveillance.

The transport department has decided to get the tests captured by CCTV cameras following concerns expressed by police commissioner Rajeev Kumar about the manner in which driving licences are issued.

"The cameras will be installed at all test centres in Calcutta and its adjoining areas and the footage will be stored for a year," a transport department official said.

Webel Technology, a Bengal government undertaking, has been asked to prepare a detailed project report.

"If it appears that a driver's fault is responsible for an accident, CCTV footage will be recalled to find out how he had fared at the driving licence test," the transport department official said.

Sources said the final test for a driving licence was a farcical affair at most centres. At the Barrackpore regional transport office, for instance, an inspector has to evaluate the driving skills of as many as 23 candidates in an hour.

The scene is no better at the public vehicles department offices in Beltala, Kasba and Salt Lake, and the regional transport offices in Alipore and Barasat.

In February, police chief Kumar had expressed his concern over the manner in which driving licences are issued, saying: "Getting a passport is very difficult but getting a driving licence is very easy."

Five months later, in July, transport minister Suvendu Adhikari was shocked to learn that of the 2,430-odd candidates who had applied for a driving licence till May 16 this year in Burdwan district, "only 25 were rejected".

The minister had sought a report from the transport department officials in Burdwan.

Apart from the driving tests, sources said, the mandatory fitness tests of the vehicles would also be captured by CCTV cameras.

"If a vehicle ends up with a mechanical failure on the road soon after clearing a fitness test, CCTV footage would be scanned to find out who had conducted the test and how it was conducted," an official said.