Manmohan Singh driving licences renewal

THE Regional Transport Office (RTO) does not usually function on Sundays. But this Sunday, it was open and buzzing with activities. After all, it's not everyday that the Prime Minister drives down to renew his licence. Like any other citizen, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally visited the RTO at Indraprastha to get his driving licence renewed on Sunday. His only privilege was that he came on a Sunday to avoid the weekday rush. Senior transport department officials said Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, visited the local motor licencing office at around 11.15 am. The 76-year-old prime minister, whose licence expired about 45 days ago, produced the mandatory medical fitness certificate and got himself photographed for the new one. He also gave his digital fingerprints, which are a must for the new biometric licence. We had got a call from the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday. We were asked to make arrangements accordingly, said an RTO official. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had got his driving licence from the same RTO in 1992 when he was finance minister in the government of PV Narasimha Rao. Earlier, he got it renewed in 2003 when he was Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.