Pen-down stir hits work at RTOs

Nagpur: Functioning of regional transport offices across the region, including Nagpur city, east, and rural office, was disrupted due to the pen-down strike organized by the employees union on Friday.
As many as 3,000 employees participated in the strike to protest against the transport commissioner’s office to implement revised staffing pattern and other demands. They have warned that if the government does meet their demands they will go in for a longer strike.

Gajanan Rathod, joint secretary of Motor Vahan Vibhag Maharashtra Rajya Sanghatana, slammed the state government for not clearing the staffing pattern of transport department. Instead of promoting class 2 employees it was reducing the posts.

He also demanded creation of two administrative officers’ posts in every office and one officer should look the work of administration and one for monitoring system. Besides creation of two office superintendents posts for each office, Rathod said. A post of tax recovery officer at par with class-I should be created at every office.

Ram Wandile, Ghanshyam Godke, Abhijit Uke, Atul Dakre, Vandana Gadkari, Kiran Dhamgaye, Vijay Nagarkar, Rajshri Yenurkar and others participated in the demonstration outside city RTO in Giripeth.

The transport commissioner did not consider the proposal submitted by the Sanghatana and hence the jobs of class 3 workers are in danger, they claimed.

The RTO employees stopped work following non-acceptance of their demands, thus hampering work at more than 51 offices across Maharashtra.

Ritik Ukey, who had gone to the RTO in the afternoon, said he had applied for learner’s licence test and was slotted to appear for the same on Friday, but was asked to come the next day as no staff members were available.

A senior official from the city RTO admitted that the stir had affected the work. The stir affected the functioning of RTO offices and the works which were not done during the day included issue of permits, licence, renewal, acceptance of cash, transfer of vehicles etc. He, however, claimed that the work of conducting driving and learner’s licence tests were done for those who had fulfilled all formalities.