Going to Indiranagar RTO office on Thursday did not provide the familiar déjà vu, for the simple reason that the haggling middlemen in the garb of driving schools are absent.
Nearly 100 activists of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) congregated at the RTO office, housed in the BDA complex on Thursday morning, as part of their #BribeFreeKarnataka campaign. They kept a watch out for middlemen and corruption throughout the day.
Thursday was the third day of the campaign. Activists have been to the RTO offices in Koramangala and Rajajinagar in the last two days.
Former Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde on Thursday joined the activists at Indiranagar and said that people paying bribes to jump the queue to get their work done were also equally at fault as those taking bribes.
He said the initiative is novel and called upon the activists to expand it across the State.
Joint Commissioner (Transport) Narendra Holkar rushed to the spot and presented some of the measures taken to ensure transparency in the department.
Ravi Krishna Reddy of AAP said that the movement is not a one-day affair with activists keeping a watch at Koramangala and Rajajinagar RTOs for the past two days. It will be no different at Indiranagar. “RTOs are known to be one of the most corrupt offices with haggling middlemen. The novel movement has paid off in a way that people are walking into the office and getting their work done, hassle-free, without being forced to pay middlemen,” he said. The campaign will be held in Yelahanka and Jayanagar RTO offices on Friday and Saturday before being taken up across the State in the next week, he said.
Helpline
The party launched a helpline (93425-22223) to lodge complaints against officials who demand bribes. “We have received around 800 calls in the last four days. Till date, we have registered 15 genuine complaints. We will contact these officials, tell them of the complaint and try to restrain them from seeking bribes,” he said.
