- NEW DELHI: Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday held a meeting with all regional transport officers to start decentralisation of fitness certification system in all 13 regional driving licensing centres and prepare detailed plan for it.
Gahlot gave a deadline till October to set up and to open the new fitness certification system. Some officers, however, expressed their helplessness due to space constraints.
It may be noted that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Gahlot and other senior officials of the Transport Department, had conducted a surprise inspection of the regional transport office (RTO) in Burari in July, which Kejriwal reportedly found to be a "den of corruption".
He had also stated that from August 1, all work at the Burari RTO would be decentralised and that the government would try to open 5,000 vehicle fitness centres across the Capital.
The CM had also directed the Transport Secretary to take immediate steps for the same.
At present, fitness certification of three-wheelers are done at the Burari authority.
Moreover, Gahlot asked officials to move a proposal at the earliest to make fitness certification available all over the Capital and look at possibilities of outsourcing the process.
"Centralisation of certification is a major reason for corruption and it must be decentralised to weed out corruption," the minister said.
"All auto drivers and commercial vehicle drivers have complained that it is only when they come through a tout that their work is done quickly. Otherwise, the work remains pending for months. We will take strict action against all officers found indulging in corrupt practices," Gahlot added.
"If they walk in and see less crowd and can get the work done by themselves within some time, why will they pay extra money to get the work done," he added.