Office housed in seven small rooms in an old house
It’s the same old agonising story. A crowded office, longqueues, no place to sit or rest, no enquiry counter and no room to storeprecious records. This could be the state of almost any other government officein Goa, but add a small old house with seven rooms that houses over 40 staffand you’ll understand the plight of the Ponda Regional Transport Office, whereservice to public is very unfriendly.
Catering to nearly a lakh of people from two talukas --Ponda and Dharbandora -- the Ponda RTO is turning out to be a huge headache tothe citizens visiting the office. The regional transport office is accommodatedin seven small rooms of an old house. People visiting the office are greetedwith the sight of corridors packed with visitors, many of whom stand in a neverending queue for hours together.
On an average, the department collects around Rs 3 lakh byway of taxes and fees every day. Besides Rs 2500 on a daily basis is also addedto the kitty, by way of sale of different RTO forms.
The Ponda RTO was reportedly shifted to the present locationin May 2001, along with the office of the PWD (works division 18,roads).Initially the office space was enough to cater to the public in thetaluka. However, now, with the population doubling since then, it ispractically impossible to cater to so many people, now.
Despite so much revenue coming in, the office fails toprovide efficient service. Geetesh Naik, a resident of Ponda elaborates, “Ihave a transport business and make regular visits to the RTO, either to paytaxes or for registration of a new vehicle. I often have to stand in a queuefor hours on end. Service at the RTO is very slow and poor.”
The government ends up paying huge sums of money on rent formany of the departments in Ponda. “Thegovernment has failed to create the infrastructure so as to eliminate highspending on rent. In case of the Ponda RTO the government is paying rent forthe past 11 years. Yet they are not taking steps to construct a building,” saidVishal Caculo, a resident of Shantinagar, Ponda.
Plans to build a new office were set up but, apart frominitiating a process for land acquisition nothing concrete has been achieved sofar, said an officer in the department.
The Assistant Director of Transport, Ponda, Prahlad Dessaiacknowledged the office was congested and that the atmosphere wasn’t veryconducive, but assured positive changes in future.
“Time and again we submitted proposals to the head officeasking for an alternate office for the Ponda RTO, as it is difficult toaccommodate more than 38 staff including 6 officers in the present set up. Weare hopeful that government will provide us a new office near the Kadamba busterminal,” Dessai said.
The office is presently functioning out of seven small roomsin an old house. “We require at least 500 square meters of space for smoothadministrative functioning. Presently, I am trying to manage with whateverresources that are available to me, Dessai stated.
