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Ludhiana RTO grappling with 60% staff shortage, visitors hassled
Commenting on the staff crisis being faced by the RTO offices across Punjab, state transport commissioner Manish Kumar told HT, “challan is only one part, there is a huge pendency at the departmental level
The shortage of staff at the RTO office is taking a toll on its services as visitors, who come to pay their challans on a daily basis, have to wait for hours to get their documents released.
Many people could be seen hovering over a single window, the only one operational out of many, to get their work done.
As per various sections of the Motor Vehicle Act, violators whose documents get confiscated by the traffic police are required to come to the RTO office to get their original documents such as driving licence, registration certificate etc released against a fine.
If this document is not collected within a span of 60 days, it is sent to district court from where it can be then collected.
Commenting on the staff crisis being faced by the RTO offices across Punjab, state transport commissioner Manish Kumar told HT, “challan is only one part, there is a huge pendency at the departmental level. RTO offices across Punjab are working with only 40% of sanctioned staff strength. To rationalise the same, we held a few meetings with higher authorities, and thus restructuring of RTO staff has been approved by the Punjab cabinet. By next week, we will send our recommendations to the Punjab government on recruitment so that a smooth flow of work can be ensured in near future.”
As per sources, Ludhiana RTO office needs at least 23 staff members ranging from senior to junior posts to cater to public services, out of which currently only 15 employees are running all the day-to-day functioning.
Several key posts, necessary to clear the piling pendency and for redreessal of issues, are vacant despite recruitment recommendation made by the concerned department.
These posts include two motor vehicle inspectors (MVIs) as the MVI posted currently has the main charge of ASI roadways, Hoshiarpur and the additional charge of MVI, Ludhiana. Due to this, he gives his services in Ludhiana for only two days in a week. But due to high pendency, the department has asked to depute two MVIs for full time so that the public work can be completed within the stipulated time.
Similarly, there is not a single assistant transport officer deployed at the office, while two posts have been sanctioned for the same. Due to this vacancy, the RTO is unable to fulfill the task set for traffic checking, various public works such as registrations and driving licences.
Meanwhile, at present only six clerks are working at office of secretary regional transport authority, Ludhiana who also have to appear before different courts on behalf of the department.
Citizens who visit the office to get their work done return disgruntled, which is why the RTO has asked for at least four more clerks.
Four data entry operators to run two separate counters for challan/test track have also been added to the list of recommendations. The department has requested to post two peons and a request for deployment of two watchmen has also been made.
“Condition worsens further when anyone out of these 15 employees, currently running the entire RTO, goes on leave or has to appear before the court on behalf of the department. As a result, we deal with a lot of heated exchange per day over pendency and other issues, but we are as helpless as the general public. It becomes hard for us to excuse ourselves,” told an employee of RTO on the condition of anonymity.
People suffer
Standing in the queue to pay a challan of ₹200 imposed for travelling on the wrong side of the road, Kulbir Singh, 30, said, “To get my work done in time, I came here around 9 am. There were around only 5-6 people ahead of me in the queue and I thought it would take me a maximum 20-30 minutes. But surprisingly, the queue did not move at all for half an hour,” he said.
Advocate Gurvinder Singh, who was seen struggling to pay the challan of his clients said, “As permitted by the DC, advocates are allowed to pay five challans in one go, but because there is only a single counter operational and that too with only two staff members, it takes us a whole day to get the work done. There should be a separate window for us. It will not only benefit us but will also ease the process for the general public.”
According to the data revealed by the data entry operator working at the challan window, around 150-200 challans are paid everyday day, generating revenue of around ₹2-2.5 lakh per day.
