RTA staffers on pen down strike after MLA conducts surprise check

Ludhiana: Alleging harassment by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi, employees of Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office and some other offices in Mini Secretariat went on pen down strike on Tuesday.
Notably on Monday, Gogi had conducted a surprise inspection at a driving test track which is under RTA, Ludhiana, in which he allegedly found several staffers absent while some on the spot were found harassing the public. Gogi thereafter had got an FIR filed against three persons on the same day, after which resentment was brewing amongst the RTA staff.
At a press meet on Tuesday, Gogi said, “Every day I get more than 50 complaints against irregularities in staff functioning at Ludhiana’s RTA. Few months ago, I went to the offices of the department and requested the staff there not to harass the people who have to wait for hours to get their legal works done. But they did not change their ways and I kept on getting complaints from public, so on Monday I again went to one of the driving test tracks under the RTA.”
Gogi added, “During my visit, I was shocked and embarrassed to see the situation as an employee of a private security agency at the track was dressed in police uniform was demanding money from public on the spot. When I went inside the office block of the test track, I found a retired RTA staffer was handling the work of the office, illegally. Besides, another outsider was found on the spot who is not authorised to be in that office, and all these persons are extorting money from the public.”
Gogi also claimed that he got an FIR registered against these three persons who were not permanent staff of the RTA office. He also slammed RTA secretary for “turning a blind eye” to his repeated requests for resolving the woes of the public and not taking action against “nexus of corrupt people” going on in his office.