My licence is about to expire now and since I am unable to go back to Shimla to renew it so I decided to make my driving licence from Delhi itself. However, I was a bit jittery going to the authority and getting my work done. As all my fourth estate fraternity guys, I too decided to pull strings and get my licence as going by normal procedures meant that I would waste the entire day running helter skelter from one window to another before ending up getting a learner’s licence.

Well if the word ‘learner’ is itching you, then according to the rule, if applying for a fresh driving licence, one must possess a learner’s licence for at least a month before one gets a permanent driving licence. However, I was uneasy going there as about a-year-and-half back I went to transport authority Janakpuri and I had narrated that incident in two columns of road show and I had decided that never in my life I would go to a transport authority. The only positive thing at Janakpuri TA was the Motor Licensing Officer of Janakpuri S.K. Mishra who was such a docile guy and heeded to everybody’s request and listened everybody patiently. Normally any other guy would become cranky if he had been sitting in his seat for even seven days.

Well, those were the days when touts used to operate openly. However, the reform that was started by former Transport Commissioner Rajeev Talwar and Joint Commissioner P.R. Meena in different transport authorities cleaned up the messy touts within the compound. Well, I thought this was the best time to go and check it whether even after a year the touts were missing. So I went to Sarai Kale Khan Transport Authority and to my surprise it looked like a desolate place and everything was in order. I took the forms from the window and started filling up. Only bad thing was that I didn’t carry photographs, photocopies of documents, etc. thinking that it will be available in the compound itself, as it was freely available in Janakpuri. They too were missing there. Finally I had to rush outside to get photocopies and photographs clicked. Only outside the gate I bumped into a tout and that too he offered me to get the photographs clicked and get my medical certificate done and photocopies attested. Well, I didn’t take up the offer as I was convinced that my work would be over soon as there were few people and everything was in order, although just 20 minutes were left for the window to be closed. The window shuts at 12.30 pm.

The only bad thing there was that the enquiry window had shut down much before 12.30 pm and I didn’t know which window to go. However, an official sitting on one of the empty window was courteous enough to guide me towards the room at the end of the building, which was a one-stop shop for all who wanted a learner’s licence. At Janakpuri one had to hop from one room to another for different things. But it was totally a different story here. Even the cashier sitting in the counter was courteous and guiding each and every individual who had some problems with their application. Thus getting a learner’s licence was just like a cakewalk for me.

Even the Motor Vehicle Inspector Javed Khan (MVI) was very strict. There was an applicant who was accompanied by an escort. I presumed that he was a tout who was acting like a guide to the applicant. When he tried to help the applicant in the test, Khan just cancelled his test and asked him to leave the room. Well, this no-nonsense attitude goes well with the public also.

Another important thing that I noticed here was the behaviour of the staff, which was extremely polite and courteous. I don’t know about other transport authorities, but wish they too were like this only.