Highly placed sources told ENS here that state cabinet meeting at Dharamshala on September 9 is slated to discuss the draft. The agenda for the cabinet which Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had already approved has an item on approval of the transport policy. There is also a proposal to replace passengers' and road tax with a special route tax.

Although a total confidentiality is being maintained on the proposals under the new transport policy, sources reveal the government basically plans to rationalise the system for collection of the passengers and goods tax. The allotment of the route permits, which created chaotic situations on certain routes, would be revamped to make it realistic. New route permits would now be issued on the basis of actual needs of passengers.

The previous Congress government, which had encouraged the grant of route permits to private operators in a liberal way, was later forced to impose a complete ban till new transport policy was formulated. ``Now once the policy gets the cabinet nod, the government will resume process for issuance of the new permits'' said a senior IAS officer.

Inquiries reveal that exercise done at the bureaucratic level show that there some of the routes, which generate good revenue had also become unviable because of a large number of permits issued without properly assessing the need. Several routes, where no viable passengers' traffic generated are left to HRTC and other profitable one taken away from it. As a result the losses of the HRTC had increased because of its operations on unviable routes.

The HRTC, on the other hand remain a highest passengers' tax paying organisation whereas the private operators manage to evade the taxes. ``All these loop-holes are likely to be plugged in the new policy,'' hints Transport Minister Krishan Kapoor.