Surveillance cameras will soon be installed at all regional and sub-regional transport (RTO) offices in the State to improve the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD)’s public service delivery system and deter corrupt practices.
The cameras will be linked to the Transport Commissioner’s headquarters here to enable supervisory officials monitor the activities of all RTO offices, detect presence of outsiders, and act upon complaints from the public.
Officials said the surveillance system would help them restrict the entry of touts into RTO offices. Keltron’s Communications Division is implementing the project at the behest of Transport Commissioner and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Rishi Raj Singh.
All MVD check-posts in the State will come under similar surveillance. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had proposed camera surveillance at RTO offices. It had reported to the government, in the wake of Operation Agent Buster spearheaded by ADGP, VACB, R. Sreerekha, that touts had almost usurped the MVD’s public service delivery system.
The VACB told the government that networks of touts and corrupt officials worked in tandem to ensure that citizens who approached RTO offices on their own rarely received service in a time-bound manner.
The VACB also reported that touts had unrestricted access to RTO facilities. During its surprise checks, it had found them to be in the possession of scores of ‘filled application forms’ from citizens seeking an array of basic services. The touts charged commissions for 50-odd services rendered by RTOs. Applications submitted by touts often had alpha-numeric codes pencilled on such documents to enable their collaborators recognise them.
