Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on 29 December launched the National Transit Pass System (NTPS) pan-India to facilitate the seamless transit of timber, bamboo, and other forest produce across the country.
Key points
- Currently, the transit permits are issued for transport of timber and forest produce based on state specific transit rules.
- The NTPS is envisioned as a “One Nation-One Pass” regime, which will enable seamless transit across the country.
- This initiative will streamline the issuance of timber transit permits by providing a unified, online mode for tree growers and farmers involved in agroforestry across the country, contributing to the ease of doing business.
- The QR coded transit permits generated under NTPS will allow check gates across various states to verify the validity of the permits and allow seamless transit.
- Prior to the introduction of NTPS, obtaining transit permits from different states along the route was a time-consuming process, causing hurdles in transporting timber and forest products across the states.
- Each state has its own transit regulations which meant that in order to transport timber or forest produce across states, one was required to get a separate transit pass issued in each state.
- NTPS offers seamless transit permits, managing records for both inter-state and intra-state transportation of timber, bamboo and other forest produce obtained from various sources like private lands, government owned forest and private depots.
