Staff crunch leaves Transport department in the lurch

The Transport department is reeling under staff crunch, if statistics provided by it are anything to go. The department officials claim that enforcement activities, road safety programmes and even day-to-day functioning are getting hampered due to staff shortage.

According to the officials, the total number of sanctioned posts is 2,729, out of which 1,819 posts are lying vacant, forcing the department to make do with available human resources.

This, at a time when the number of vehicles in Bangalore alone has grown manifold over the past few years. The number of posts sanctioned has remained constant and that too is left unfilled. Officials say that the staff strength was fixed more than a decade ago as per the population of vehicles at that time.

While Bangalore alone has 11 regional transport offices (RTOs) and on an everyday average, about 60-70 four wheelers get registered at each RTO. An equal number of driving licences are issued by each of these RTOs, pushing the envelope further for the department.

They say that the matter of recruitment of staff for the department is pending with the legal department as some people had challenged the filling up of vacancies in the past, following which a stay order was granted by the court.

The situation has forced the department to put on hold its proposal to set up new RTOs. The department was to add at least three new RTOs.

Transport Commissioner Ramegowda said, “We have to deliver within the available resources and are making efforts constantly to take up enforcement activities, road safety programmes, etc.”