Tougher test ahead for learner’s licence

Want to get a new driver’s licence? The first step is set to get more stringent in Chandigarh. One, you will have to study harder before you appear for the learner’s licence test, as the question bank is being increased five times. But that’s not all.

Updated on: Mar 22, 2015, 10:17:32 IST

Hindustan Times | By Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh

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Want to get a new driver’s licence? The first step is set to get more stringent in Chandigarh. One, you will have to study harder before you appear for the learner’s licence test, as the question bank is being increased five times. But that’s not all.

At present, the test consists of 25 questions of which you need to answer 15 correctly to pass. The plan now is to double that, which means you will have to answer 30 out of 50 questions. The passing marks are 60% as per the law. The test used to have 10 questions, like in SAS Nagar and Panchkula, till around three years ago.

Earlier, while the 25 questions were picked from a set of 200-odd questions, the number will now go up to 1,000.

Confirming, Kashish Mittal, the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), said, “The plan is to make the test such that the applicant’s knowledge is tested more vigorously. The work is on.”

The plan is being executed for the administration by NGO ArriveSafe, led by its president Harman Sidhu, who is also a member of the UT Road Safety Council. It is part of a larger project to make a road safety manual. The issue also came up at the council’s meet earlier this week.

“We are coming up with a manual — in English, Hindi and Punjabi, the three languages in which the test is held too — that would explain concepts of road safety mostly with scenario-specific illustrations. This graphic-driven book will have around 150 pages,” Sidhu told HT.

He said it would be complete in another four weeks, and would also be available as a soft copy online, besides being available in a printed version for a minimal price: “The text will stay away from the bureaucratic language available already in the guidelines, rules and laws.”

Most of the questions will be from the manual, and multiple-choice, as they are now.

“The manual, more widely, will also cover benefits of cycling and public transport; and also explain the nature of accidents and injuries so that people understand, in layman’s terms, the dangers of not using a helmet or seatbelt,” Sidhu added.

Around 150 people take the learner’s licence test every day — five days open, and Saturday for senior citizens and defence personnel — and the pass percentage hovers around 50%, with women doing better than men mostly. Many people fail twice or even thrice.

The new test could bring the overall figure down further, agreed Sidhu, but added, “The questions will be easier to understand.”

In any case, if you fail you can re-appear after 15 days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aarish Chhabra
Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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