Renew Driving Licence without a middleman

 Not many years ago, a driving licence could not be taken or renewed without the services of a middleman who charged hundreds of rupees for his service out of which bribes were paid to the RTO (Regional Transport Office) staff. It was a well-known institutionalised corruption. I renewed my 2-wheeler driving licence online recently. It was simpler and faster now than five years ago when the online facility was in the initial stage. Shri. Nitin Gadkari as the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways (2014 - ) has overhauled the procedure for renewal by changing over to an online system requiring just one visit to the RTO by the licensees. The acknowledgments and confirmations for documents, payment, appointment etc. submitted/made are received on the licensee's mobile phone.

The driving licence is renewed at the website of Parivahan Sewa https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/ . You will need access to any computer with an internet connection. A memory stick to save the downloaded documents and take them to where they can be printed and scanned if these equipment are not already connected to your computer. (It may also be possible to do it through mobile by downloading the app from PlayStore.) You will need two hard copies of your recent passport-size photo (and a scan of it), a medical form downloaded from the website and signed by an MBBS qualified registered doctor (and a scan of it), a filled up renewal application downloaded from the website, a scan of your signature, and pay Rs. 300/- online. After completing the online application process, you need to visit the RTO to hand over the documents and get yourself photographed. Below are the screenshots of the steps I followed online while renewing my 2-wheeler licence recently for reference but you may be able to do it entirely by yourself at the above website which is accessible 24x7.

On opening the website link above, click under 'Licence Related Services', the 'More' button of 'Other Services' (Screenshot 1). It will open another page wherein you need to select your state, in the drop-down window at the bottom, and then click on 'B Driving Licence' (Screenshot 2).

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2

Please check that your Aadhaar Card details such as Name, Date of Birth and Father’s name/spouse name exactly match your existing Driving Licence and the information you gave to the RTO earlier. If so, on the next page that opens, click on 'Renewal of DL' in the blue options box (Screenshot 3). If not, close the box and on the page behind it, click on 'Apply for DL Renewal' - 3rd from the top left (Screenshot 4). (You can exit at any step of your application process and restart it later from this page the link for which is https://sarathi.parivahan.gov.in/sarat.../stateSelectBean.do)

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 4

On the next page, if you are above 40 years of age, scroll down and click on 'Download Form 1-A' (Screenshot 5). You need to get this basic fitness certificate signed by any MBBS-qualified doctor registered with the government and submit it at the RTO on the day you visit. You may obtain it free from a doctor in a government hospital or for Rs. 200/- from a doctor in a private clinic/hospital. Next, click the 'Continue' button on the page.

Screenshot 5

On the next page, fill in your driving licence number (see how it is to be input, given at the bottom of the page) and date of birth. Enter the captcha, click on the 'terms and conditions' check box and click on the 'Get DL Details' button (Screenshot 6).

Screenshot 6

Your existing driving licence details will appear on the next page. If the information is correct scroll down to 'Confirmed that the above Driving Licence details are mine', click open the drop-down window marked 'Select' and click on Yes. Next, select the category of driving licence holders to which you belong by clicking on the drop-down menu, select the RTO from the menu next to it. (If the information is incorrect, select 'No' and follow the instructions thereon.) Then, click on 'Proceed' at the bottom of the page. (Screenshot 7)

Screenshot 7

On the next page, scroll down, and enter your mobile number (linked to your Aadhaar card) and your email ID. Click 'Confirm'.

On the next page, select 'Submit via Aadhaar authentication' and click on Submit (follow (a) below). If the details on your Aadhaar and driving licence do not match, select 'Submit without Aadhaar identification' and click on Submit (follow (b) below).

(a) On the next page, enter the Aadhaar number, select all the boxes below, and click on Generate OTP. Enter the OTP number received on your mobile and then click 'Authenticate' (Screenshot 8).

Screenshot 8

(b) On the next page, enter the mobile number and click on 'Generate OTP'. Enter on the page the OTP received on your mobile and click 'Authenticate with Sarathi' (Screenshot 9).

Screenshot 9

On the next page, select 'Renewal of DL' and click on 'Proceed'. Next, you have to upload scans of the following documents:

- Form 1A

- A scan of your signature (of size less than 20 kb)

- A scan of your passport-size photograph (keep its kb size within the prescribed limit)

I haven't provided the screenshot of this page as only those yet to renew the licence can access it. You can make the fee payment, print the application forms, upload the documents and choose an appointment with the RTO on the same page shown in Screenshot 4 above (Screenshot 10).

Screenshot 10

(Tindivanam RTO is about 30 km on the highway from Morattandi tollgate, near Auroville. Wear a helmet, enjoy the long ride safely, and reach there at the appointed time.) Handover to the staff member at the main entrance of the office the following hardcopies:

- Existing driving licence (Original one with the hologram of the state govt. symbol)

- The booking slot confirmation slip (Appointment slip)

- Filled and signed Form 1A (medical fitness)

- Filled and signed Form 2 &

-Fee payment acknowledgement slip

He would browse the papers and approve them. Next take them to the photography room where your photo and digital signature will be taken. You can collect your new driving licence the same day evening by 5 pm or the next day, at the dispatch window of the office. When you get a message on your mobile that the licence is issued, check on the website that your photo, signature and other details are correct. (I was amused to find somebody else's signature in the place for mine on my licence. So, the next day after collecting my licence from the dispatch clerk I showed the photographer that it was not my signature but she said it was "alright" probably because it could be corrected later. I gently insisted that the correct signature be printed on the DL immediately and re-issued to me and that I didn't want to come another day for this. Then she got it done within an hour after taking my photo and signature afresh.)

If the new license is not collected within 2 days the dispatch clerk is supposed to mail it to your address.

Vehicle insurance can also be renewed online, on or before the due date. If not it can be renewed by visiting the Insurance office with the vehicle.

There is institutionalised corruption in many of the government services - electricity boards, business licensing authorities, police, railways, telecommunication etc. A determined Minister, such as Shri. Nitin Gadkari can bring about systemic changes to eradicate corruption but if the people still prefer to bribe and stay within their comfort zones, corruption would still thrive. The Mother once told someone complaining about the corruption in the country that if one is determined not to bribe he need not have to. I have seen this to be practically true many times. Sri Aurobindo published a booklet titled The Renaissance in India in 1920 wherein he wrote that it is because Indians' public life became most egoistic, self-seeking, materialistic that they fell. Perhaps the transformation of the public life, the beginning of which may be seen in efforts like this to eliminate corruption through computerisation and online access to users, would be indispensable for the rise of true India. All who aspire for the City at the Service of Truth, Auroville, to manifest integrally, ought to ensure that they do not directly or indirectly contribute to corruption.

𝐎𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐲𝐚𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚

"Omidyar is basically a dot com version of Soros. He’s a massive leftist donor and his network is fleeing India."

'The move comes a year after Omidyar Network and nine other NGOs came under the radar of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which serves similar roles as the FBI in the U.S., over alleged violation of the nation’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act that oversees a firm’s ability to receive overseas donations.'

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/crackdowns-on-leftist-nonprofits-cause-omidyar-network-to-flee-india/

(Excerpts from Rajiv Malhotra & Vijaya Vishwanathan's book "Snakes in India" 2022) 

Omidyar Network India (ONI), based out of Mumbai, is the Indian initiative by Pierre Morad Omidyar, the founder of eBay, a man with a net worth of around twenty billion dollars. He is a great example of a philanthropist wanting to change the fundamental workings of society and politics. A reasonable way to introduce him would be to think of him as a younger version of another billionaire, George Soros.

Both are ultra-wealthy and self-made and want to use their wealth to bring about social change worldwide in accordance with their favorite model of how society ought to be. Both are portrayed as humanitarians who are ‘protecting democracies’. They want to help societies fight authoritarianism. Both are the proverbial ‘good cops’ operating on the global frontier where savages (i.e., those that disagree with their worldviews) and their cultures need to be civilized.

Between them, Omidyar is far more tech savvy and strategic in his approach to social engineering. His ‘investments’ are couched in carefully selected jargon, and one must dig deeper to tease out the socio- political disruptions hidden beneath the surface. A Forbes article depicts Omidyar as a champion protecting ‘democracies under attack’.1 When he invests in ventures that offer ‘data protection and privacy rights’, the long-term vision is to protect citizens from their own governments that might use the new technologies for surveillance and control. Ironically, many of his own ventures are specifically in the field of data collection, behavioral analysis, and different kinds of AI applications.

Pierre Morad Omidyar

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By comparison, earlier civilizing missions from the West were less sophisticated, requiring more time, resources, and manpower. Omidyar’s approach is far more efficient because the Indians themselves do the work, generate revenue and provide feedback for real-time monitoring. They are often young, inexperienced and bright, and are being carefully groomed into the kind of leaders that can fulfil his mission. Additionally, Omidyar has investments in organizations of strategic value that can yield datasets or provide the desired media coverage.

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Omidyar’s activities are described with great precision – quite like an engineering project. There is the aura of a highly disciplined, formal process. Young technocrats are impressed by the jargon that makes them feel like proud members of a movement driven by ‘facts’, ‘science’, ‘evidence-based decision-making’, and various kinds of ‘toolkits’. Omidyar also invests in an extensive network of ‘research’ institutes that compile information and develop position papers for advocacy. This so-called ‘groundbreaking research’ is part of the complex web that supports their ideology.

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These billionaires have the financial strength to bypass FCRA regulations, and enter India as a for-profit business, to conduct their Breaking India activities. India needs to therefore take another look at foreign enterprises entering India on the pretext of doing business. It is going to be a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff, but that is the need of the hour.

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There are four ways in which ONI wants to change Indian society: Build infrastructure to implement tech solutions that will transform society and align it with ONI’s ideology. Invest in innovative entrepreneurs and leaders, especially the young using the latest technology, initiatives, and opportunities. Turn them into Omidyar’s loyal army of youth leaders and help manage their careers. Create a network of tech start-ups with equity enabling this social engineering to become financially self-sufficient. Influence the Indian government’s policies by funding various organizations, including its own start-ups, industry organizations, and established institutions. This four-pronged approach is rapidly building ONI’s footprint in India. It is very open about this multifaceted strategy and its websites and social media publicity are very informative.

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Omidyar-China Nexus

Omidyar’s connection with the Chinese Communist Party and the fact that it seems to be working in ‘cooperation’ with the party is a direct national security risk to India. Whether this ‘cooperation’ means working for Chinese interests in India is the question. A 2017 report revealed that China was bragging about its control over President Joe Biden’s national security team and names Omidyar among others:

A 2017 report effectively claims – on the CCP’s behalf – that CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook Oversight Board member Helle Thorning-Schmidt, NeverTrump philanthropist Pierre Omidyarand many others “co-operate” with the CCP and its goals.

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One of ONI’s high impact projects brings the latest technology into areas already teeming with missionaries and separatist movements. The ReSolve Initiative project empowers some of those very NGOs we have been fighting over the previous decades that prey upon India’s rural and marginalized populations. It targets the 110 million Indians that help run micro and small businesses and the migrant workers estimated to be between 80 and 130 million.

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The opportunity ONI has seized upon is that the social and cultural needs of these small businesses and migrant workers ‘have not been addressed systemically’. The vulnerability is identified as follows: ‘How do gender biases against women and the girl child play out among migrant women and children? How many of them get adequate food, nutrition, and education?’

This project brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders and policy makers together. So far ONI has funded sixty-seven rural projects in seventeen states of which twenty-one claim to have nationwide impact. At least 3.2 million people are directly involved; another 48 million Indians will get evangelized by ONI’s social justice activities.

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Omidyar Network India is investing in Ashoka University’s Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, which claims to be India’s first academic center focused on enabling strategic and robust philanthropy for greater social impact. The ONI states: ‘The Centre intends to achieve this by developing knowledge products that inform sector strategy and action, providing independent, non-partisan platforms that build sector vision, voice and norms’.

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Janaagraha is another NGO funded by ONI claiming to ‘transform the quality of life in India’s cities and towns’. It claims to bring ‘reforms to city governance’ through its activism to educate the public on local political issues and advocacy. This project helps ONI infiltrate local, state and Central governments in four thousand-plus cities across India.69 This is similar to the role Omidyar has played in US local politics to organize voters, promote specific policies, and pressure politicians.

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Akin to its US parent, ONI is always looking for ways to influence media for political and sociological themes. For example, it has made equity investments in NewsLaundry and Scroll. Its grant to Swarajya raises eyebrows. One wonders if this is meant to be a public display of ‘balance’ or an entry point with long-term strategies to influence the editorial policy the way it did in the case of The Independent.

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Indians familiar with the East India Company know very well the risks and uncertainties of foreign interventions in political and government affairs. What starts as friendly cooperation can easily turn hostile when there is a conflict of ideological or commercial interests. In Omidyar’s case, there is precedence of this in other countries. One example is the Omidyar funded movements that allegedly helped topple the previous Ukraine government.

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In effect, Omidyar is building a parallel civic-governance infrastructure that is digital and bypasses the brick-and-mortar infrastructure. It is openly justifying this on the grounds that the existing infrastructure is ‘inadequate’.

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The process of driving a wedge between the government and the people of the country has already started. The foundation has been laid and the structure is being rapidly built up. The risk to India’s sovereignty and democracy seems unprecedented.

Manekshaw's refusal to go to war against East Pakistan early in 1971 cost lakhs of civilian lives and brought ten million refugees into India

It is customary for everyone in India to pay glowing tributes to late Field Marshal Manekshaw annually in December when the anniversary of India's successful liberation of Bangladesh comes. A biopic on him was released yesterday.in time for the season. A close study of not widely publicised records of the events leading up to the liberation of Bangladesh shows the Indian Army General failed in his dharma which was to go to war when his country needed it most.

Field Marshal Manekshaw

When the killing by the West Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) started in March 1971, the Mother told PM Indira to liberate Bangladesh. In a conversation with the Indian Army Chief Manekshaw, corroborated by a video interview of him some years ago, Indira asked him to go to war against the East Pakistan Army. He refused and offered to resign if she insisted on the grounds that the Army needed months of preparation and the terrain was impossible for an invasion during the monsoon. Indira backed down and as a result, till seven months later when the war would at last begin, lakhs of Bangladeshis, most of them civilians, were massacred by the East Pakistan Army, and 10 million (1 crore) Bangladeshi refugees into India (Most of them never went back causing a huge setback to Indian economy). Manekshaw was finally forced to go to war with Pakistan because Pakistan attacked India on 3rd December! If not, I think, he would never have gone into the war and got retired with all pensionary benefits peacefully. The dharma of an Army General is to accomplish what the Prime Minister of the nation tells him (and her words were indeed the Divine Will in this instance) whatever the odds against the success. The Army is supposed to be ready to go to war within hours of the call of the nation, rain or shine. He failed which resulted in massive deaths and the refugee problem that plagues India to this day.

Given below are the details of exactly how the war was delayed and finally forced India into it.

The genocide in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) by Pakistan started in early March 1971. Lakhs of people were killed and raped and about 1 crore refugees poured into India in the following seven months.

Chuknagar: The largest genocide by East Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971

April 3, 1971 

The Mother’s message to Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi on her request for advice on the Bangladesh crisis:

“India must recognize Bangladesh. This is urgent”

April 7, 1971 The Mother: I received some news from Indira who told me that they’re sending all the help they can up there [to Bangladesh]. They are taking a very positive position. But she says that the outcome will probably be war with Pakistan, and maybe even with China – they’re expecting it.

April 14, 1971

Pakistani troops have almost entirely sealed the Bangladesh border with India. The Chinese have massed their troops near the northeastern borders.

30 April 1971

Mother’s Note published in an Ashram periodical:

“The situation is serious. It is only a strong and enlightened action that can pull the country out of it.” Blessings.

May 8, 1971

News Report on ‘The Hindu’: The Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi today set to rest all speculations about an early recognition of Bangla Desh by indicating quite clearly that the government of India did not propose to do so in the near future.

The Mother: [...] Now, it’s five weeks already.... [...] It’s already more difficult. If they put it [the war against Pakistan] off again, it will be even more difficult. [...]

May 15, 1971

The Mother: [...] And already over two million refugees have come into India, and they’re expecting the two million to swell to ten million. And India won’t have anything to eat. [...]

June 26, 1971 The Mother: It seems war is inevitable. […] they [Govt. of India] will declare war. I am informed almost directly. [...] The [Divine] Force is clearly working in favor of India, that I see...

June 30, 1971 The Mother: On the one hand, they say that the war is imminent; on the other hand, war is useless – all that supported by what I am supposed to have said. [...] They have missed the moment.

They’ve lost the chance [to take Pakistan by war]. [...] Parliament seems to be in favor of war – Parliament wants war, but it’s the government that doesn’t want.

July 17, 1971 The Mother: And it’s [the Bangladesh crisis] on a large scale, you see, almost a world scale, at least a national one, in this country, but ... it has repercussions in China, Russia, Europe, America. They’ve made ... such a mess, you know, with this whole [Bangladesh] affair, it’s dreadful – dreadful. Now, they’ve found a solution: the Americans are trying to come to an agreement with the Chinese – that’s the last straw! – to help Pakistan massacre people.

December 3, 1971

India-Pakistan war began on this day because Pakistan attacked India’s western border. December 15, 1971 The Mother: This war is.... I am busy all the time, all the time. We get letters from the front; several generals and high-ranking officers say they feel my presence all the time. And it’s true, I am busy all the time.

[Excerpted from the Agenda of the Supramental Action Upon Earth, Institute of Evolutionary Research, Paris, 1971]

India recognized Bangladesh on December 6, 1971, and the East Pakistan Army surrendered to the Indian Army on 16th December 1971 marking the liberation of Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's letter thanking the Mother after the war and the Mother's reply: