With the use of a blockchain-based automated system, the much-maligned transfers of Regional Transport Office (RTO) inspectors in Maharashtra will be carried out with no room for corruption.
The move will be a first for the department in the state. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also holds the transport portfolio, has directed that transfers of RTO inspectors be carried out strictly “online” adopting digital methods to curb malpractice.
Every year transfers of RTO inspectors Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVI) and Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors (AMVI) remain in talks over corruption. Citing malpractices at RTOs, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had once quipped about Laxmi darshan (bribe in local lingo) there.
In March this year, Maharashtra witnessed a cash-for-transfers scam after an audio clip of a conservation between a woman RTO inspector and a person surfaced, prompting the state government to order a probe.
Among RTO officials, offices where a large number of non-transport vehicles are registered, and under which busy border check posts fall are considered as plum postings. Many inspectors try to use influence and money to get transferred to such RTOs, according to department officials.
A transport department official said that a private company has been appointed for the blockchain-based software for online transfers and the database of service records of those eligible inspectors is also ready. If everything goes smoothly, the online transfers of MVIs will be completed by the end of this month, said the official, who did not wish to be named.
The transport commissioner’s office has already published a list of MVIs due for transfers. Presently, only 567 of 867 MVI posts and 1,070 of 1,098 AMVI posts are filled across Maharashtra.