E-Paper
Late to work, five RTA officials served notices
The Punjab government had from May 2 altered the office hours, shifting the timings from 7:30am to 2 pm, many officials from the RTA department arrived after 8am, leaving visitors in a lurch
Regional Transport Authority secretary Poonam Preet Kaur issued notices to five officials for arriving late to work, in a breach of revised office timings set by the Punjab government.
The Punjab government had from May 2 altered the office hours, shifting the timings from 7:30am to 2 pm. Many officials from the RTA department arrived after 8am, leaving visitors in a lurch.
Only a handful of employees had reached office by 7.45am and the rest of the staff reached office after 8am.
RTA secretary Kaur acknowledged the delays in arrival of officials, “I have issued show cause notices to the concerned employees who have reached late in the office. Most of the employees reached late due to strike at the bus stand.”
Daljeet Kaur, NRI, who resides in Boparai village, was visiting the RTA office for the past three months to renew her car registration. She said that she came to the office at 7.30 am but found nobody there.
Kaur had applied for the renewal on April 19, but the department had failed to process the work. Furthermore, due to a clerical mistake, her vehicle type had been wrongly added in the data, resulting in her tax amount being erroneously generated as ₹40,000 instead of ₹6,000.
Another visitor, Savinder Singh, said that he reached the RTA office at 8.20 am only to find that no one was available. He had to wait for over 20 minutes until an official finally arrived and accepted his file.
Ajay Sharma, a social activist, said, “The delay in services and the lack of punctuality by RTA officials have raised concerns among the public, who rely on the department for various transportation-related tasks. The new office hours were implemented to enhance efficiency and provide better service to the public, but it appears that the intended benefits are yet to be realised”.
