Mumbai:
Many of the promises made by the transport department seemed too good to be true -- vending machines, driving simulators, LCD screens, and an interactive website -- and so they have turned out to be.
While the vending machines and LCD screens are lying switched off at various Regional Transport Offices (RTOs), the driving simulators are locked up in rooms, and many links on the 'interactive' website, which was once touted to be the one-point contact to resolve complaints, have not been updated.
''In fact, if you click the 'Message' link on RTO's transport department website, it still shows Deepak Kapoor as the transport commissioner,'' said Rajesh Kumar, an RTO consultant. Kapoor was transferred from the department nearly a year ago.
''All this hi-tech gadgetry was installed during Kapoor's tenure. The vending machines at Andheri are lying in debris and have literally turned into scrap,'' said KR Rao, another consultant from Andheri.
Officials at RTO's Mumbai Central branch said one should look at the positive side. They pointed out that the computerised smart card licence project was moving smoothly, and that the department was inching towards paperless operations. "We have also begun computerising vehicle number records," an official added.
Kumar, however, said the RTO should have embarked on such ambitious projects only when it had trained staff and established an IT culture in the organisation.
''The form vending machines never have any paper in them, and no one knows what to do if there is a problem,'' he added.
The expensive driving simulators are also stuck in red tape. But state transport commissioner Dilip Jadhav refuted the claim saying that there are certain procedures to keep these machines running, and that they are on the job.
''Many of these devices were offered by sponsors and on a build-operate-and-transfer basis. As far as simulators are concerned, we need certain clearances from the government to make them a part of the system. We have begun the process, and will start the services soon,'' Jadhav said.
Copyright restricted. Under license from
www.3dsyndication.com