Youth-Fare

Chandigarh has stretched out its horizons and that includes growth is population and vehicular traffic. Today we find heavy rush of two whee...

Chandigarh has stretched out its horizons and that includes growth is population and vehicular traffic. Today we find heavy rush of two wheelers and cars on the roads. College students who could be seen on bicycles and rickshaws ten years back now prefer comfortable and time-saving means of transport. One can hardly spot any college going guy or a gal on a bicycle as they zoom through city on their scooters, bikes and cars.

On the other hand, school students at plus-two level have no choice but to either pedal their way to school or else they have to make it on the rickshaws, local buses or school buses. The problem here is of holding a licence when a person is 18 years of age, which is the time when he is in second year of college.

This seems quite absurd and the city teenagers feel that the legal limit for holding a licence be reduced to 16 years. Their reasoning is certainly logical especially in Chandigarh where they have to cover long distances on their bicycles. If they opt for buses, it doesn8217;t give them the convenience of reaching the exact place at the right time when it comes to visiting interior places much beyond the reach of buses.

When I was in my first year of college, I had to change two buses on my way to S.D. College in Sector 32. The college is only 10 kilometres away from Panchkula but as I had no other option, it took me nearly one-and-a-half hours to reach college and the same amount of time was spent on my way back home. It would otherwise take only half-an-hour and that too, right from my house to the college campus if I had the liberty to drive my scooter.

The problem doesn8217;t end here for those students who travel by local buses. At times the bus staff goes on strike and these students are forced to make use of rickshaws or autos, they take advantage of their helplessness by charging exorbitant fares. In such a situation, they feel a dire need of having their own conveyance.

After passing class X, one has to choose from the various streams available. With a new combination of subjects and foreseeing tough competition ahead, some students have to go in for coaching classes. Some have to attend these classes at odd hours that are at times so inconvenient that their parents have to take the trouble of leaving them and coming back again to pick them up from the place. This especially applies to girl students as for them it is not safe to travel in buses or ride their bicycles early in the morning or at night when the city roads wear a deserted look.

Some believe that one is too young at 16 for driving. However this is not really true because one has to go through a driving test and licences are issued only to those who pass the test. Along with driving skills one should also be made aware of the various traffic signs and rules that are important for his won safety and others as well. If the age limit of issuing a driving licence is relaxed to 16 years, it will surely come as a welcome decision for hundreds of school students who face problems commuting within the city, day in and day out. This policy only needs careful planning and implementation and to train the students, traffic police should organise workshops in schools for inculcating a sense of abiding by the traffic rules.

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The writer is a student of MA-II, English, Punjab University