ARTO Deepak Thakur has been absent from his post for the past month. Reports of his prolonged absence from departmental work sparked widespread public outcry. However, when a representative from Punjab Kesari asked him several days later if he was on leave, the ARTO stated that he had gone to Maharashtra for departmental work. The ARTO clarified that the printing of RCs and licenses had been halted in the department since last year, causing significant inconvenience to applicants. He stated that to find a permanent solution to this problem, the license and RC printing contract has been awarded to two private companies in Maharashtra.
Printing Work Through Private Companies
According to Deepak Thakur, this work was previously handled entirely by the government. However, printing has been halted since last year due to a lack of machinery and resources. Private companies have printed approximately 100,000 licenses and RCs. Raids have been conducted and they have been delivered to the applicants’ homes. The ARTO stated that the printing of the remaining licenses and RCs will be completed within the next two months. He also clarified that the government aims to clear all pending files by December 2025. He assured that all pending files and printing work will be completely cleared by December 2025, so that applicants will not face any inconvenience.
