Raipur: Chhattisgarh has become the first state in the country to give medical certificate online for driving license. An online portal has been launched by the government to issue online medical certificate keeping in view the convenience of general public and simplify the process of issuing driving license.

Transport minister Mohammad Akbar inaugurated the portal at his residence office on Wednesday.

“For the first time in the country, the process of giving medical certificate for driving license has been done online in Chhattisgarh. The issuance of online medical certificate will facilitate both the applicant and the physician. This is the first step towards making the driving license process of the transport department transparent and paperless. There will be no need for any kind of paper work in this process and complaints related to medical certificates will also be curbed”, said Akbar on the inaugural occasion.

Department officials said that if a person wants to make a driving license and are more than forty years of age, then he/she is also required to have a medical certificate in the prescribed format as per the Motor Vehicle Rules. The medical certificate for driving license is called Form 1A. Similarly, if an applicant wants to get license for transport vehicle, then it is also mandatory to submit medical certificate in Form 1A. Many times complaints have also been received for submitting fake medical certificates in the transport office. To resolve this issue, an online portal has been developed after discussing with the officials of Indian Medical Association, Hospital Association.

Under the online system of giving medical certificate for driving license, now any doctor who wants to do this work can get ID and password from the transport department at no charge. The doctors who will get the ID and password of the Sarathi portal can issue an online medical certificate anywhere in the state.