The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Ban on RTA agents likely to continue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 23, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Ban on RTA agents likely to continue

By Ravi Reddy

HYDERBAD, AUG. 22. The State Government is unlikely to take a fresh look at the ban imposed by the previous Telugu Desam Government on the RTA agents despite pressure from the elected representatives and leaders of the agents' associations and lorry owners.

The Government, which has received a number of representations from the RTA agents to revive the system, has not taken any decision so far.

Though informal meetings with the Transport Department officials were held by the Minister for Transport, S.Santosh Reddy, in the last few days, there appears to be strong opposition among officials to revive the system.

MLA backs agents

The issue has once again come into focus after the heated exchanges between the Vijayawada East MLA, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, and the Vijayawada Deputy Transport Commissioner, S. A. V. Prasad Rao, on Saturday.

The MLA is said to have questioned the official for not allowing the RTA agents to operate. He reportedly told the official that he had telephonic talk with the Transport Minister. However, the official flatly refused to do the needful asserting that there were no written orders on the issue.

Minister's clarification

Mr. Santosh Reddy, who is in Nizamabad, said on Sunday that the Vijayawada MLA had contacted him and complained about the RTA agents not being allowed to function at Vijayawada. "I told him that the system was done away with and there was no way for the agents to function.''

He nevertheless admitted that during his tours of Vijayawada and other places, the RTA agents and lorry transport owners had made a plea to revive the system. The agents were pleading that over 5,000 of them had lost employment and urged the Government to give a fresh look into the controversial issue.

"The issue is sensitive and the Government will handle the subject carefully," he said. Pointing out that the people in general had welcomed the doing away of the agent system, he said the Government had not taken any decision so far. He said the RTA offices across the State are well equipped to handle applications and the streamlining of the offices has yielded good results.

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