The Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the State Government to prepare a list of all agents who were working as ‘facilitators’ at various Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and accommodate them suitably in the proposed e-kiosks that are to come up at the RTOs to help the people get various services under the amended Motor Vehicle (MV) Act.
Following an executive notice issued by the State Transport Commissioner in September this year, in which the agents were debarred from entering into the offices of the RTOs and threatened of criminal prosecution in case of violation, hundreds of agents lost their livelihoods. Challenging the executive order as an infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution, several petitions were filed in the High Court.
Disposing of one of the petitions filed in this connection, Justice Biswanath Rath directed the State Transport Secretary to identify and maintain a list of such agents by collecting data from each RTO and instal the e-kiosks as an urgent measure. “The e-kiosks shall run or be manned through the identified agents as far as practicable and complete the exercise within a period of two months,” the High Court said.