Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: Corrupt RTO officials are colluding with some MPs and are trying to scuttle down efforts to do away with corruption at transport offices, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said at Nagpur on Sunday.

Gadkari, who was speaking at the function organised by Federation of Auto Dealers' Associations (FADA), said he was informed about the wrong-doings at the RTO offices as well as the irregularities done by the dealers. He also went on to say that 30 per cent of all driving licences in India are fake.

"Driving licences are given without any verification. This causes death of around 1.5 lakh drivers in over 5 lakh road accidents every year," Gadkari said, adding that the Centre has proposed several changes in the Motor Vehicles Act to do away with the corruption at the RTOs and the automobile sector. "The bill has been cleared by the Lok Sabha. I expect the Rajya Sabha to give its nod on the bill during this Winter session."

Gadkari also mentioned the issue of high petrol prices, saying the government planned to replace diesel with Methanol. Very soon 10 buses each at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Guwahati will start running on Methanol, he said.