Pulwama,10-May: The ARTO office in southern Kashmir’s Pulwama district continues to remain headless for a long time due to which the vehicle owners are facing immense hardships.The authorities had 20 days back shifted ARTO Pulwama. However, despite passage of over 20 days the authorities failed to appoint the ARTO and instead gave additional charge of RTO Srinagar.Local residents of Pulwama while lashing out at the authorities said that by giving additional charge to the RTO Srinagar, the authorities have made both the offices defunct.“It is extremely difficult for an ARTO to look after two offices,” locals told CNS. “The result is that people of Pulwama district are at the receiving end, “added Shafiq.The applicants who had applied for the issuance of driving license said that the delay in the appointment of ARTO hampers work. The driving license trial often gets delayed.“There is always considerable delay in the driving test trial mainly due to the late arrival of the RTO as he has to simultaneously look after two offices. Sometimes even RTO fails to turn up due to his busy schedule,” said Javid a resident of Pulwama town.The transporters are the most affected lot. Some of the transporters said in the absence of ARTO they often return empty handed which costs them a business day.“The transporters are facing the worst hardships. The documents of our vehicles do not get renewed in time due to the absence of the official,” said Irshad Ahmad, a driver.
