Coimbatore: "If all the applicants are being provided with 'E-Pass', then why is it needed?", question consumer activists and industrialists. They provided suggestions to monitor travel history in other ways.
Coimbatore: "If all the applicants are being provided with 'E-Pass', then why is it needed?", question consumer activists and industrialists. They provided suggestions to monitor travel history in other ways.
The Tamilnadu government has made 'E-Pass' mandatory for all inter-district vehicle movement except essential services transportation vehicles. Difficulties in availing these E passes made people of all categories, especially industrialists, traders and farmers, upset. Considering these difficulties, the State government has introduced a new scheme from August 17 under which all the applicants are provided with 'E-Pass' on the basis of the documents they submit.
This has given some relief to the people, but due to various ground level difficulties witnessed, consumer activists and industrial associations have strongly condemned the initiative. They requested the state government to completely eradicate the 'E-Pass' system and provided various suggestions to track travel history.
Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) President Ramamurthy said, "The implementation of 'E-Pass' system has badly affected the entire industry sector. The relaxations implemented from yesterday has given some relief, but this will not be a permanent solution for the issues faced by the industries. There are many practical difficulties witnessed by industrialists in implementing 'E-Pass' and one of them is that more time is wasted each day.
There is no doubt that tracking the travel history of people is much needed during this pandemic outbreak, but there are many other ways to do it. Each and every industrialist across the region are ready to bear the responsibility of maintaining records of the travel history of their employees.
The impact of this pandemic outbreak will be witnessed till the vaccines are introduced in the market and now is the time for all industries to move ahead by strictly following all the safety guidelines. In reality, we don't require E-passes' for inter-district vehicles and passenger movement within the state."
Citizens Voice Coimbatore (Consumer and Environment centre), President, CM.Jayaraman said, "Initially implementing 'E-Pass' was the need of the hour and we welcomed it, but more problems are witnessed during the implementation. The state government has implemented this initiative in a good manner, nut due to some corrupt officials, the entire initiative is being criticized. Check posts have turned as collection and corruption points.
Following requests from various quarters, the government has now given relaxations by giving E-Pass to all the applicants. If all applicants are provided with passes, then why do we need the E-pass system? If it is for tracking travel history of the people then the government can do it in various other ways. It can implement a system in which all the inter-district vehicles and the passengers should produce their ID's at the check posts. This will help track their travel history. E-Pass must be made mandatory only for travel to other states."
The Tamil nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) District President J.James said, "There are many grievances in the E-Pass system. At present, 'COVID-19 ' virus infection is spreading fast across the state and on the other hand, the day-to-day activities of people are also taking place normally. Financial health is as important as physical health for all humans to survive on this earth. The government's focus should be on prevention and treatment. Rather than implementing an E-Pass system to track the travel history, the government should look at alternate ways which won't affect people's livelihood and the growth of industries."