POINT TAKEN
In 2025, J&K recorded over 1.5 million traffic violations, yielding a “record” ₹34 crore in fines. While the Traffic Department frames these figures as a victory of enforcement, they are actually an indictment of failure. In any functional system, the goal of a penalty is its own obsolescence. Yet, our streets have become fiscal hunting grounds where success is measured by the volume of “realizations” rather than the absence of chaos. When officers are shackled to collection targets, they cease to be guardians of safety and become instruments of revenue. We see the result daily: “nakas” strategically hidden behind blind curves to catch offenders after the fact, rather than visible patrols preventing the risk before it happens. The Department of Traffic must decouple “targets” from “tickets.” A “Zero-Challan Day” should be the highest institutional honor—a sign of a disciplined citizenry and a successful state. Until we stop treating our roads as ATMs, safety will remain a secondary casualty of the balance sheet.
