UP till September 20 this year, 282 vehicles were stolen in the state by gangs or crooks working alone. Of this, 256 were two-wheelers, 11 cars, four jeeps and 11 others tempos or trucks. In 2007, the total number of vehicles stolen was 212 and in 2008, the figure was 229.
The year 2009 witnessed a surge with 303 vehicles falling victim to thieves. As of March 31, 2009 Goa had 6.73 lakh registered vehicles, which means those stolen represent a small fraction compared with the total. The question that arises is: should we be alarmed or not? Vehicle theft is something that affects the owner more than others as the general public simply moves on. However, the possibility of a stolen vehicle being used in a terrorist attack gives the crime a sinister and dangerous twist. Goa was witness to a terror attack when a scooter bomb went off in Margao in October 2009. Hence vehicle theft cannot and should not be taken lightly.
On the other hand, citizens are aware that it is not physically possible for the police or any other law enforcing agency to ensure that all vehicles remain safe. But as a society we try our best to bring in reforms to ensure that thieves are not given an easy run. On the one side is detection and prosecution of offenders. But the punishment hardly acts as a deterrent and there is no guarantee that harsher punishments will curb the problem or bring it under control. However, it is on the side of prevention that some measures can be introduced. In 2005 the central ministry of road transport made it mandatory for all vehicles to have high security registration plates (HSRPs). The purpose was to reduce theft and make it more difficult for vehicles to be used in terror attacks. That the entire HSRP scheme got bogged down in controversy is unfortunate. In Goa the agreement with Shimnit Utsch had to be cancelled following serious allegation of overpricing and quality of the plates delivered. Besides vehicle owners were not convinced that HSRP would ensure total safety. As things stand neither HSRP nor a modified version is likely to be implemented and vehicles continue to be stolen at the rate of nearly one a day.
The problem with governments is that they try to achieve too much in too short a time, and that too without convincing the stakeholders. For example, all attempts by state governments to get speed governors installed in heavy vehicles came to naught because of the pig-headed decision to include all vehicles in the scheme. If the rule had to be extended say, to only new vehicles then in, a decade or so, most vehicles would have had speed governors. Same was the case with HSRP.
With so much opposition to all these safety schemes, perhaps an easier way of ensuring safety would be to link vehicle registration to mobile phones. All the policeman on the street has to do when he spots a suspicious rider is flag him down, type in the registration number on his phone and he will receive the mobile number and photo of the owner. If it matches the rider everything is fine. If it doesn’t then he calls the owner to find out if the vehicle has been stolen. If the registration plates are fake he will receive a message. For this to work, the central registry of vehicles must be maintained by insurance companies and not the government, because the government’s record of implementation and maintenance is abysmal. The cost could be worked into insurance premium. This is just one suggestion. Hopefully it would help bring down vehicle theft and make owners feel safer at a fraction of the cost.
