Lindsay Pereira: More auto rickshaws, less safety

Herersquos a bit of exciting news to cheer up harried commuters across Bombay The state transport department mdash possibly one of the wisest departments among the many other departments that work together to make Maharashtra one of the worldrsquos most efficient states in the history of human civilisation mdash has tweaked the rules for those interested in driving a rickshawRaising an army of autos Naturally the safety of the public in question must take a backseat to the increase in number of rickshaws because that statistic can then be printed in bold letters on illegal posters a few weeks before the next state elections File pic for representationThis will obviously come as a surprise to most of us who assumed rickshaw drivers didnrsquot have to follow rules of any kind but they obviously exist on a piece of paper somewhere so it must be true Apparently the earlier rule that insisted on one having a minimum of a yearrsquos experience as a driver before applying for a licence has been removed People with absolutely no driving experience are now eligible to ferry you and me around just so the number of rickshaws in the city can increaseTo put this into perspective I can wake up tomorrow morning with a hankering to become a rickshaw driver without ever having sat behind the steering handle of one and get a licence that will allow me to buy a rickshaw and then overcharge you for ferrying you around And you can do the same thing too if yoursquore a meanspirited person bored with your current job that requires you to stick to boring rulesTherersquos another change that has been made to an existing rule Now rickshaw drivers donrsquot really need to be educated either Earlier they needed to have cleared Std X presumably because studying everything other than driving for ten years would make them all efficient drivers Now however studying up to Std VIII will be sufficient This shouldnrsquot come as much of a surprise to be honest when one considers the fact that even the ministers responsible for education in Maharashtra as well as the entire country have both had their own educational qualifications repeatedly questioned If vast numbers of our ministers can only aspire to clear Std VIII with a bit of cheating it may be unfair to force poor rickshaw drivers to go to school before they can start driving us aroundLetrsquos compare these admittedly laidback rules with those of another major city like London If you wish to become a licenced taxi driver there every applicant is the subject of a criminal record check before being issued with the required licence Every applicant is also required to have a medical report form completed by the doctor who has held their medical records for the previous 12 months Epilepsy poor vision a history of alcohol abuse heart problems or neurological disorders are among a few things that can prevent you from holding a licence Most importantly you must have a thorough knowledge of that city including the location of streets clubs hospitals hotels theatres government and public buildings railway stations police stations courts diplomatic buildings important places of worship cemeteries parks leisure centres places of learning restaurants and historic buildings mdash everything you need to know to be able to take passengers to their destinations by the most direct routes All of which one assumes requires that you know how to readMaharashtra on the other hand will hand over your licence with no questions asked even if you are a former convict who suffers from heart palpitations at every traffic light and canrsquot tell Pali Naka from Saki Naka provided you have studied for eight years somewhere and feel like you ought to be a rickshaw driver because therersquos nothing much else for you to doThese new rules are all part of a bid to improve public transport in our city apparently Naturally the safety of the public in question must take a backseat to the increase in number of rickshaws because that statistic can then be printed in bold letters on illegal posters a few weeks before the next state electionsMeanwhile our existing rickshaw drivers can continue to break every traffic rule in the book refuse to ply depending on the mood theyrsquore in behave in as uncouth a manner as possible cheat passengers at will and run illegal shared services across the city opposite Andheri station on the West for instance next to the RTO booth None of that will change because there are no new rules about what they currently doInterestingly these measures have been introduced during what the government refers to as Road Safety Fortnight Irsquom almost surprised our Chief Minister didnrsquot invite Salman Khan to inaugurate itWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom