An image that did the rounds of social media on Wednesday has raised uncomfortable questions about corruption within the Road Transport Department. For its part, the administration has claimed it has not found evidence of corruption in a preliminary inquiry.
The image, shared on social media by a citizen activist, showed a pile of applications with money wrapped and pinned to them. The applications are marked ‘B’ suggesting they could have been filed through brokers. The amount of money pinned to the applications also seems higher than the fee quoted on them.
The information on one of the applications suggests a slot for issue of a duplicate document has been booked at RTO Patancheru. The image was allegedly captured at Patancheru RTO office, the person who posted the image to social media said.
“The image was clicked at Patancheru RTO office where additional money, apart from the fee paid online, was being collected by brokers. All applications are also stacked with the money charged from people,” said a member of the organisation Youth for Anti-Corruption, whose members clicked the image.
In response to a tweet of the photo, the Cyberabad Police referred it to Sangareddy Police.
When contacted a senior RTA official said a preliminary inquiry has not revealed that the image was captured at RTO Patancheru.
“The floor, the table and other objects seen in the image do not suggest the image was taken at RTO Patancheru. I have also had the image checked at other RTO offices. We will enquire further and if an official has been found to indulging in such activities, action will be taken,” said District Transport Officer for Sangareddy K. Venkata Ramana.
