JOIN USStaff crunch: Smart card plan suffers set back
Regional Transport Office of Mangalore Sub division is suffering from staff shortage due to which many of the planned works are pending for quite some time now.
Be it the Inspectors’ post, or the posts of first division and second division clerks, the vacancies are leading to delay in execution of day to day work in the office.
As on today, as many as 29 posts are vacant in the office, where hundreds of people visit to get their driving licences and vehicles registered everyday. With the important posts likeofficers and inspectors lying vacant, the work in the office has been affected.
Among the 20 sanctioned inspectors’ post, only 12 posts have been filled so far. Eight posts have been vacant for over a year. Out of two Assistant Regional Transport Officers’ posts, only one post is filled up.
Out of the 13 sanctioned posts for first division clerks, 10 posts have been filled up and they need three more at the earliest. Two posts of account case workers, one post of stenographer, 12 posts of second division clerks, and two posts of treasury guards are vacant since a long time. With only one Assistant Regional Transport Officer, the officer is overburdened with the work of conducting driving tests, thus not being able to turn his attention towards other issues.
The shortage of staff has affected the Mangalore RTO’s plan of issuing smart cards to over three lakh old licence holders.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Regional Transport Officer C Mallikarjuna said that the giant task of issuing smart cards to the old licence holders who are larger in number has not gained momentum due to acute shortage of staff.
“With the limited clerical staff we can not even afford to run the routine work of the office. In such a situation issuing new licences to the old license holders is difficult. Though we had plans of issuing computerised new licences to the old licence holders by collecting at least 70-80 applications per day, we could not do it because of manpower crunch,” Mallikarjuna said.
Even the other plans of the RTO like seizing vehicles of the elite tax evaders, who register their vehicles in other States and ply on Mangalore roads for a long time, could not see expected result.
“Currently we are dependent on the squad from Bangalore who monitor the SUV’s and other high end vehicles plying on the Mangalore roads bearing the registration number outside the State. We are dependent on outside squad to conduct the enquiry. If our office is given with enough staff, the work pace will be a lot better,” he said.
The Regional Transport Office is hoping to get the necessary staff at least by the end of next month and has planned to start issuing smart cards to old licence holders by April.