New Transport boss soon

Crestfallen officers in the Transport Department fear that the move would prove detrimental to many reforms planned in the department.“The official order is yet to reach the commissioner.

It is expected once Ashoka returns from Dubai,” they told Deccan Herald.

Ashoka, officers quoting Rao said, had even mentioned the names of two officers, one of them is Managing Director of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) Sham Bhatt as possible successor of Rao.

Lobbying

The KIADB has been in the news for all the wrong reasons with its name appearing in the series of land scams that rocked the political system in Karnataka.

Officers suspect that the move could be a result of several powerful lobbies that exist in the transport department, one being that of the autorickshaw drivers.

Rao had proposed to establish an exclusive RTO for autos in the City, so as to check the nexus between corrupt officers and drivers.

Illegal permits

Among many initiatives that the officers feared will be scuttled is an inquiry into auto rickshaws plying with illegal permits.

The inquiry which was initiated earlier this month has been stopped, with the decision to remove Rao, who has served for 28 months in the department.

Earlier this month, Rao had commented in the public that the nexus between the drivers and officials has to be dismantled in order to have an efficient system which could supplement the buses in the City.