Transport officer praised by Gadkari suspended in connection with 2025 accident that killed two

Mumbai, May 7 (PTI) A Regional Transport Officer (RTO) who was recently appreciated by Union minister Nitin Gadkari for road safety initiatives was suspended by the Maharashtra government for alleged negligence in a fatal accident here involving school vehicles, an official said on Thursday.
A government resolution issued by the state home department said Kiran Bidkar, Regional Transport Officer (Nagpur City), was suspended with immediate effect under Maharashtra Civil Services Rules in connection with a September 2025 accident involving a school van and a school bus.
The accident, which took place on September 12 last year, claimed the lives of a vehicle driver and a student, with the issue getting discussed in the state assembly.
The school van involved in the crash was allegedly operating without a valid fitness certificate and that Bidkar, as head of the office, prima facie showed "dereliction of duty, negligence and laxity" in the matter, the GR stated.
Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the officer under the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1979, and his headquarters during the suspension period will remain the office of the Transport Commissioner in Mumbai, it added.
Bidkar is the fourth and senior most RTO official to be suspended for various reasons in less than two days. Earlier, two motor vehicle inspectors and an assistant regional transport officer (ARTO) were also suspended.
The suspension comes just days after Gadkari issued a letter appreciating Bidkar's work on road safety awareness and enforcement in Nagpur.
In the letter dated May 2, the Union minister praised initiatives undertaken by the officer, including campaigns on traffic awareness, distribution of road safety booklets, training programmes for school bus and autorickshaw drivers, helmet rallies and strict enforcement of traffic norms through e-challan systems.
In the letter, Gadkari noted that these efforts had contributed to a decline in road accidents and fatalities in Nagpur and expressed hope that Bidkar's work would serve as a model for others.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)