Applicants aghast as outsourcing of driving licence printing ‘fail’ to alleviate delays

Srinagar, Mar 06 : Despite outsourcing the printing of driving licences, people from different parts of Kashmir have expressed their resentment, stating that outsourcing of the process has not provided any relief to them. An applicant from Srinagar, who had applied for the driving licence told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that since December last year, he has been going to the RTO office in Srinagar for collection of his driving licence, but has to return disappointed. “There are many like me who have been facing the same problem, although authorities in the RTO earlier said they have outsourced the printing of driving licence, but nothing much has happened on the ground”, he said. Similarly, several other applicants complained of delays in receiving their driving licence, stating that delays have pushed them to the wall. Reacting to the reports, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir, Syed Shahnawaz Bukhari told KNO that the process is on to clear the backlog pendency and that issuance of licence will return to its normal course. “Of total 1,78,000 backlog licences, 86,000 have been printed, while the remaining backlog is expected to be cleared by next 15-20 days,” he said. He said that once the clearing of the backlog will be over there won’t be any issue with regard to issuance of driving licenses. Pertinently, RTO Kashmir had earlier stated that printing of driving licenses was outsourced to a government agency, assuring that the move was aimed to clear the printing of backlog driving licences.