Chorus grows for mandatory blood group on driver’s license
Hyderabad: The driving license, which you carry in your wallet while hitting the road, may not be useful in case of emergencies as it lacks the basic information — blood group.
In the past also, several appeals were made to the transport department to consider making the blood group information mandatory, but to no avail. Vehicle owners are once again raising their demand for inclusion of the most important and basic detail, the blood group on driving licenses.
Knowing a driver’s blood group is crucial for the medical team if the driver of a vehicle is involved in a road accident and needs immediate medical attention. Vehicle owners, cab drivers and road safety experts are angry that the transport department has kept this information optional.
The former Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan highlighted the lack of this detail when he visited the Khairatabad RTA office for renewal of his driving license. Yet, the blood group column on the driving license remained blank.
The officials of the transport department have maintained that the inclusion of blood group information was made optional in the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. However, the officials would consider adding it if the applicant wants information about his/her blood group to be noted in the license.
However, some of the applicants have stated that they received their driving licenses without the blood group information despite stating it in their application.
M Dayanand, general secretary, Telangana Auto and Motors Vehicles Welfare Association, said he is dissatisfied with his renewed driving license as the officials have reportedly omitted this crucial information in his license. He said he failed to understand why the transport authority made the inclusion of blood group information optional while Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and other states issue the driver’s license with blood group details.
