Bhubaneswar: Two days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered to make all RTO offices free from middlemen, Transport Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda Saturday banned entry of brokers/agents/middlemen to these offices.
Panda has issued a two-page instructions letter to all Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) in this regard. He asked the RTOs to take strict measures to eliminate influence of agents/middlemen and create a people-friendly atmosphere in offices.
Panda ordered for lodging FIRs against agents/middleman who try to enter RTO offices and testing centres under Section 188 of IPC.
If any broker is seen loitering outside the office premises, the RTOs have been directed to inform local police for action against the person. The transport commissioner has also instructed the RTOs to remove temporary structures like cabins/huts put up by brokers inside and along the boundary of the RTO offices. The service providers like Smart Chip Ltd (who provide chip-based cards for DL and registration) have also been told to adhere to the order and to not engage any outsiders for any official work.
For easy identification of the official employees, the government has suggested the RTOs to issue coloured ID cards and bands to officials. Government employees will use blue band while service providers will use green band and Smart Chip Ltd officials to use yellow band.
To inform motorists about genuine fees to avail various services, RTO offices will now have large signage and wall paintings installed on their premises mentioning different services provided by the office with the rate chart (government fee, service charge and others).
The government has also asked the officers to install e-KISOK and CCTVs at RTO offices. The RTOs, if needed, can engage student volunteers to provide assistance to the public.
The transport commissioner appealed to the public to contact only authorised officials of RTO offices and not to come through any middleman or agent.
Citizens can report about activities of agents/middlemen to State Transport Authority through the twitter handle @STAOdisha, Facebook Page–State Transport Authority Odisha and help desk No1800 345 1073.
Transport and Commerce Minister Padmanava Behera said, “We will ultimately identify the corrupt officials/officers through dalals/middlemen who have been arrested.”
The Minister hinted that action against corrupt officials can be even dismissals. All the brokers and such corrupt officials will be removed by October, he said.
The Minister hinted that transfers were long overdue in his department. “Since Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meetings have been completed, the department is the process of drawing up a list for transfers,” he added.
31 more middlemen arrested
Bhubaneswar: Continuing its effort to crack down on dalal raj in various government offices, Odisha police, Saturday, arrested 31 more middlemen/ dalals from various parts of the state. While 22 brokers were arrested from RTO offices, 9 were arrested from hospitals.
Nine persons were arrested from Jajpur RTO office, 4 arrested from Kandhamal RTO office, 3 from Khurda, 2 each from Jharsuguda and Koraput RTO offices and one each from Puri and Jagatsinghpur.
Similarly, three brokers from hospitals in Kalahandi district, 3 from Bhubaneswar, 2 from Bhadrak and one from Khurda district were arrested.
Investigation of these cases will focus on establishing linkages of middlemen with others including owners of nursing homes, diagnostic centres, health officials, transport operators and transport officials etc, so that appropriate legal action can be taken against them, sources said.
DGP BK Sharma directed that the drive against middlemen/dalals will continue on a daily basis under the direct supervision of SP and Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs). They have been directed to submit situation report on a daily basis regarding action taken in different districts.
