I am very happy to know that feeder busses, which were very much needed, are to be commissioned by September for the Delhi
Metro. Keeping in mind a vision for a world class Delhi, the attitude and demeanor of the drivers and conductors of these state of the art vehicles must be must be considered. Towards this end, it would be most advisable to involve the educated youth for running this service for the following reasons: 1) India lacks dignity of labor- Us Indians, (especially the educated middle class) take pride in proving their one-upmanship by saying that their job is better or they are higher placed than their brother. As a result many jobs are shunned and considered disgraceful. Providing a ‘disgraceful’ job of being a bus driver to an educated youth will add ‘grace’ to the service, will teach the Indian youth to get their hands dirty, thereby giving them valuable experiences which would otherwise be available only at management training, and most importantly will result in significant social reform, by causing a paradigm shift in the Indian psyche. 2) Will provide meaningful growth oriented job opportunities to the youth- India, in contrast to developed societies in the west, does not provide adequate job opportunities for the youth into which they can channel their energies usefully. As a result the youth has begun to channel their energies into futile and disruptive practices like college politics and crime. Part time work with the Delhi
Metro will help inculcate a work culture among students in a manner that will not hamper their growth or studies. Apart from this the Delhi Metro can boast of being the first and only government organization to provide such quality jobs and thus being mentioned in the same breath as business establishments like McDonalds in terms of recruitment. 3) Commonwealth games- The involvement youth in this project can make New Delhi and the DMRC ‘look good’, especially in the wake of the upcoming commonwealth games. It would be an asset to the city’s transport infrastructure if its employees are fluent in English, are educated and well groomed. The Metro feeder service can be a star on the shoulders of the country and also a feather in the cap of the Delhi Metro. 4) Travel etiquette - It is a common saying that it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but India is a young country and according to a recent survey conducted by the Delhi Metro a large percentage of the metros ridership is of the youth. Given such a case, the best that the Delhi government can do is to ‘catch them young’ and civilize the Indian urban youth.