GUWAHATI, Sept 10 - The State Government has started the process of connecting all the offices of the District Transport Officers (DTOs) so that the functioning can be monitored centrally.
Meanwhile, five DTOs were placed under suspension today for dereliction of duties and for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that he, along with senior officers of the Department, today had a meeting with all the DTOs to give them directives to improve the performance of the Department and five officers were placed under suspension on the spot. He revealed that the Transport officers in charge of the composite check gates in Srirampur, Buxirhat Dighar Khal, who are officers of the rank of DTOs, have been suspended today as they failed to carry out the Government�s instructions regarding overloading of goods-carrying vehicles and other such instructions, while the revenue collection in the gates were also not up to the mark.
The Minister said that the other two DTOs placed under suspension were the officers of Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts. He said that there were a number of public complaints against both of them and the Government found that they were not carrying out their duties properly.
Meanwhile, the Government has installed 18 towers in collaboration with the BSNL and 12 more would be installed within a couple of months so that all the DTO officers can be connected with the head office of the Transport Department. He pointed out that once the step is taken, the performance of all the DTO offices would be monitored centrally and immediate action would be taken against any officer responsible for delay in carrying out their assigned tasks.
Patowary said that instructions have been issued to all the DTOs to make their offices people-friendly and to ensure that no citizen is harassed by any employee in getting their day-to-day works, including registration, renewal of registration and licenses, etc, done. The DTOs have been directed to increase revenue and specific targets have been given to each DTO.
Patowary admitted that growing number of accidents on the roads has become a major cause of concern and it is found that majority of the accidents take place because of fault of drivers. The Transport Department has decided to launch a mobile app so that people can launch complaints about rash and improper driving. The app would be ready within a month. The Transport Department has also decided to set up driving schools in all districts of the State soon.
