Jayanagar RTO goes modern

BANGALORE: Jayanagar’s Regional Transport Office (RTO) now has a new face. Cracked walls, chaotic queues and pigeon nests have been replaced by sophisticated CCTVs, Smard Card rooms, display screens with a token service.Inaugurated by Home and Transport Minister R Ashok, the new Jayanagar RTO located inside the Jayanagar TTMC is completely computerised. “This centre is paperless and all processes are computerised. We aim to computerise all the RTOs in order to facilitate a smooth flow of work,” said Ashok.He was joined by Ananthkumar, MP - Bangalore (South), BN Vijaykumar, MLA, Jayanagar, M Krishnappa, vice-chairman, BMTC, MK Shankarlinge Gowda, IAS among others. A bold step taken by the Transport Dept is to do away with brokers and middlemen who charge surplus fee for various works.Now with CCTVs, strict monitoring of brokers walking in and out everyday will be undertaken.“Along with this, speed post service will also be used to dispatch the licenses to avoid exploitation by touts,” said Ashok.With the new centre, all services of RTO would be conducted on one single floor, as against the previous office that had two floors for various processes. The highlight of the new RTO office is the implementation of a token display system for self-service.In the previous office, which was compact in size, applicants had to form self-monitored queues to application and verification of documents. Another addition to the centre is a Road Safety Awareness Centre, which will guide commuters on various aspects of road safety and know-how.Ananth Kumar commended the efforts of Karnataka’s transport dept and called for more initiative to make Bangalore a benchmark for other cities to follow.“Karnataka Transport is a role model today. Ashok has requested Narendra Modi to inaugurate the upcoming transport office in Banashankari and also inspect the TTMC. Modi said that Karnataka Transport can be ranked first in the country,” said Ananth Kumar.He further called for a multi-modal transport system in the city. “Local trains, coupled with buses and metro will make Bangalore the best city in terms of transportation. I will support Ashok in any initiative,” he said.Ashok also announced that a dedicated RTO for autorickshaws would come up near Shantinagar’s BMTC office.“Touts used to charge upto Rs 25,000 for permits. This RTO will help them get permits at Rs 750,” he said.Bangalore has grown significantly in terms of vehicular movement. From June 2009 to September 2011, a total of 1,62,969 driving licences were issued and 1,51,248 registration certificates were issued.