According to a report in the Times of India, Delhi Government has proposed to authorise college principals and university registrars to issue the training licenses, so that students above 18 years of age can obtain them from their colleges directly. An online eligibility test would be administered by the colleges, wherein the students would have to score 6 and above out of 10. The project is proposed to begin with the Polytechnic colleges which would be then followed by seven colleges of the University which are under the Delhi Government.
Students at large seem to be happy with the proposal. Deepangna Singhi, a student of Miranda House said, “The process to issue a license is somewhat daunting and it would be highly convenient if we get them through our colleges. The voter ID drive through colleges have turned out to be a success, so why not the license as well.” Another student, Vaibhav Gupta from Aryabhatta College says, “It’s a very good step as it will reduce the burden on the license issuing authority and make it easier for students as they will not have to red tape to get a license.”
However, teachers seem to be divided on this issue. While some teachers are supportive of the move others believe that educational institutes must not be burdened further. Dr Bijayalaxmi Nanda, a faculty member from Miranda House says, “I think university authorities are already burdened with work. The issuing of driving licenses should be through appropriate bodies which have been dealing with it.” She said that rather than adding the burden to academic bodies, the government should work to improve transparency and efficiency of the existing institutions.
A majority of the applications for a learner’s driving license constitutes of students. While the proposal in under review, how are colleges going to handle an additional task of dolling out licenses with the existing problems of non-availability of infrastructure and expertise is a major question.
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Shireen Manocha