Interview:

Dr. R B Saner-Patil, Director, CIRT.

Q. CIRT turned 50 in 2015. How do you look at the journey? A.

The road map of CIRT is progressive. CIRT has achieved excellent standing in consultancy, training and components testing for CMVR. CIRT has played a pivotal role for MoRTH.

Q. Born out of an association between ASRTU and MoRTH, what role has CIRT played, and is looking to play in public transport development? A.

CIRT is a technical arm of ASRTU. All the STUs, RTOs, and now even the Police, come to CIRT for training in road traffic economy, road safety, accident analysis, and audit among others. CIRT has the maximum data in Asia. Our databank is very cohesive. We are striving to develop it further, and make changes to it by publishing the data on our website. This will help create high level of transparency in what we do. We are similarly building a components website, which will help the manufacturer track his component. He will be able to known at what stage of test the component is, and how it is moving through the process.

Q. MoRTH is proactively promoting safety in the road eco system. What role is CIRT playing there? A.

A proposal has been put up to the ministry for Centre for Excellence in Road Transport (CERT). It is about improving the road eco system. Our Institute of Driving Training & Research (IDTR), under the aegis of MoRTH, and its 11th Five year plan as a road safety initiative, is an example of our work in that direction. We are playing a role in the upgrading of the licensing system. We are moving ahead in the area of Intelligent Transport System (ITS), GPS, and vehicle tracking system. Government is very proactive in these areas. CIRT is getting strong support from MoRTH for these endeavours. We played a vital role in the formulation of the Bus Body Code, and the upgrading of CMVR. To ensure that such changes are well known to the authorities. We are proposing to the Government an academy for RTOs as well.

Q. How does CIRT support its proposals to the Government to bring about a change? A.

I will once again turn to IDTR. It is a big step that has been taken. There is no manual intervention in the issuance of driving license. CIRT is doing this pilot project such that the module is travelling to Bengal, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand and numerous other places. The other is the IMC centre for inspection and certification of vehicles. Here too, there is no manual intervention. The vehicle will be inspected automatically. A centre at Nashik is operational. With the amount of faith MoRTH has put in CIRT, we are confident of supporting as well as setting new benchmarks. CIRT is the only institution that compiles the performance of all STUs. ASRTU and MoRTH uses this as a basis to award STUs for their performance. We also have alliances with universities and engineering colleges. For skill development of their people, ITRs are approaching us. CIRT officers train them. To effectively impart training and knowledge, CIRT officers travel across India.

Q. STUs have numerous challenges to overcome. Not always technical in nature. Does CIRT play a role? A.

MSRTC has given us the mandate to train all their officers. CIRT academy carries out motivational training, behavioural training, how the officers should look at their profession, changes in CMVR, bus body code, etc., in the form of a capsule. The officers are from the lower, middle and higher management level. By bringing together officers from different walks of life, CIRT also plays an integrating role for the overall upliftment of standards and knowledge base. We, at CIRT, conduct training such that it is a comprehensive module of management and technical science.

Q. You were instrumental in the formation of bus body code. What inspired you to do this, and what were the benchmarks? A.

CIRT was given the mandate to develop the bus body code. It was born out of the need to achieve common standards. Different dimensions and different approaches, it was found, could create a safety hazard. With the bus body code, bus body building

industry, which to a large extent was unorganised, has come together. It was tough, given the industry’s differing standards of knowledge and operation. We called the stakeholders to our campus. An example I would like to provide at this stage is of our customer Veera Vahana. It builds almost 100 buses per month. The training imparted by CIRT, he acknowledges, has helped him. For development of bus code, we interacted with similar institutions and labs in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of them were found to be advanced and costly. With passenger safety at the core, the team at CIRT went about their task to develop the bus code. They chose the economy model. The bus code has resulted in the elevation of productivity of bus body builders, and their ability to customise.

Q. You also type certify vehicles. How did it help you to formulate bus body code? A.

Yes, our ability to type certify vehicles and components helped. We do components testing and Safety and Homologation (S&H). Considering the global scenario, S&H will assume good pace in the future. The movement to hybrid and electric vehicles will demand that we upgrade and modify our capabilities and facilities.

Q. What changes is CIRT implementing to test electric and hybrid vehicles; their components, batteries, etc.? A.

We are working towards achieving this goal.

Q. Your vision for CIRT’s future? A.

CIRT should evolve as the best training academy in the field that it specialises in. It should impart the best training to STU officers, RTO officers, revenue officers, and others. Road safety is the key. With the Government keen to strengthen public transport, CIRT has a crucial role to play. The vision therefore is for CIRT to play a consultancy role. We are upgrading our components testing labs with the help of ASRTU and Ministry of Heavy Industries, and have a vision that it will play a vital role in promoting safety and technology. My vision is for CIRT to carry out future BS regulations. In this direction, one of our scientist has filed a patent for a telematics-based platform CIRT is working upon.

Q. How does CIRT interact with similar such institutions the world over, and keep up with the latest developments? A.

We are a member of Working Party (WP.1) on Road Traffic Safety of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The meeting of WP.1 takes place at Geneva. WP.1 deals with homologation of vehicles globally. Over 172 representatives of testing agencies the world over meet. India is represented by CIRT, ARAI, ICAT, ACMA, SIAM and others. Also, WP.29, which is about harmonisation of vehicles. It is a UNECE World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), and a unique worldwide regulatory forum within the institutional framework of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee. Every country presents their proposals. We presented IDTR, and our work was appreciated. We are now working on CERT.

Q. With non-traditional projects like NATRIP, what role do you see for traditional mediums like CIRT to create an integrated network? A.

All the testing agencies including CIRT, which work under the aegis of MoRTH, and are a part of AISC, meet regularly. Non-governmental stakeholders also meet at these meetings. Exchange of thoughts and ideas takes place. This creates an ideal platform for harmonisation of all the testing bodies. Emphasis is laid on developing complementary capabilities such that public money is efficiently utilised.

Q. Your vision for an integrated public transportation infrastructure in India? A.

As an apex body, ASRTU is playing a prime role in shaping up public transport. Similarly, the Ministry of Skill Development is working on driver development. There is much integration underway. As a technical arm of ASRTU, we play a vital support role in this direction. Also, in areas like accident analysis, which is new to India.

Q. What developments are taking place in the area of accident analysis? A.

CIRT is playing a role in helping the agencies analyse accidents. We are also playing a role in eliminating black spots. I am a member of the Rashtria Suraksha Parishad. The world is coming closer. We are almost on par with European standards as we prepare for BSVI emission standards. This will entail the installation of new machines, and a change in infrastructure. Work would involve bringing the STUs up to speed. It is a tough task. Integration on that count includes changes the Petroleum Ministry is executing towards making available new fuels. A big task for us would be to promote the move up to BSVI standards in STUs.