It is very unlikely that Manmohan Singh will drive a car in the years ahead but the prime minister on Sunday chose not to take a chance and personally went to the transport office to renew his driving license like any other citizen.
In his characterstically unfuzzy manner, the prime minister insisted on going to the Regional Transport Office at Indraprastha in New Delhi to renew his driving license that had expired 45 days ago but he made one concession to security by choosing a Sunday to go there along with his wife Gursharan Kaur, who also renewed her license.
The 76-year-old Prime Minister completed the required formalities like getting himself photographed and fingerprinted as required for the new biometric license. He also produced the mandatory medical fitness cartificate.
Dr Singh arrived at 11.30 am and was at the RTO for about 15 minutes.
According to Delhi government sources, the renewed license was handed over to the prime minister by Motor Licensing Officer Pradeep Anand. Transport Commissioner R K Verma and senior officials were present when Singh arrived.
"The Prime Minister along with his wife went to the RTO office and both of them got their licenses renewed," Prime Minister's media advisor Deepak Sandhu told PTI.
The sources said Union Ministers P Chidambaram and M S Gill and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had also visited the RTO office at Indrapastha to get their driving licenses renewed.
The RTO, which does not function on Sunday, was specially kept open for the prime minister. Weekdays at the transport offices attract huge rush.
The Prime Minister had got the license from the same RTO in the 1990s when he was Finance Minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government. Earlier, he got it renewed in 2003, when he was leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha.
In the capital, according to Motor Vehicle Act rules, the President and the Lieutenant Governor are exempted from having to go to the transport office to get their licenses.
