Should private cars be rationed? If so, how?
I believe private cars should be rationed. I feel this way because cars are a major producers of greenhouse gases and they contribute to global warming. Many activists are trying to persuade people to switch to public transport and non-polluting vehicles like bicycles. If cars are rationed then the government will be able to keep a strict control over the number of cars a person owns. Owning more than sufficient number of cars causes unnecessary pollution. In Delhi the government every year brings out the odd-even rule to decrease pollution. If we start controlling the number of cars being owned by a person itself then such a rule might not be needed in the future.
Though the government should ration cars but the choice of which cars the citizens should use must not be made by the government. Being a little enthusiastic about cars I believe that the government should not curb the different models of cars that will be available to the citizens. Every car enthusiast has a dream of owning a specific car and many of those who wish to fulfil their dream will be demotivated if such a rule is taken out.
Rather the government should control the number of cars a person can own. They should take out rules like a family cannot own more than two cars. The government should also incentivise those car owners who own electric cars by giving them a tax rebate while taxing the cars which run on petrol or diesel more. This move will not only motivate the car buyers to buy electric cars and use public transport, but it will also force the car manufactures to turn to producing electric cars.
The Indian government has recently brought out vehicle scraping policy which incentivises the people who get their cars older than fifteen years scrapped. These rules are an important milestone. They will help reduce the old and polluting cars on Indian roads. Though these rules might not be giving a lot of benefits as such but the little benefits are better than none. The new policies will give the car users a fraction of the money they spent in buying the car and also tax rebate on the new cars they buy.
India is the second biggest car consumer. To bring such rules into play it requires much deliberation on the part of the government. The government requires to bring out these guidelines gradually. We can consider the new vehicular scrapping policy as the starting point. These rules are specifically applicable to India because Eleven out of the 12 most polluted cities on a World Health Organization list are in India. I am sure government will work to secure a better future of its citizens by bringing such rules out.
