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After a long wait following the declaration of the preliminary exams for recruitment to Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services, 2010 batch, the schedule for the Mains Exam is finally out today. And just how could it happen without creating yet another jolt! Having had a massive delay due to extremely bad weather on most of its exams being conducted in these months (Remember the Dental Officers recruitment exam just conducted on the 26th of Feb?), the candidates for the HPAS 2010 Mains were in for a shocker of a news as the exam was scheduled just 10 days after the notification. However, this should not create any problems for the candidates as they have had a lot of time for preparation, but a very vital aspect has being overlooked in the scheduling of this exam.

It’s been some time since I wrote about the worsening situation of traffic in the city of Shimla. Since then a lot of things have changed, the most important being the much awaited opening of the new Inter State Bus Terminus or the new bus stand as the locals refer it as. The new ISBT not only feels and looks good but has also contributed a lot to easing the heavy vehicle traffic on the city roads. However, the peripheral location of the same has created a new problem which though in its nascent stages right now could become monstrous if not taken care of. What I am referring to is the huge pileup of passengers and buses at the bye-pass point with roads leading up to the city and new ISBT. This is the location from where the highway coming in from Solan bifurcates to make way for Shimla city and the new bus station. This is no bus stop or a scheduled pick up point but even then most of the passengers coming in from the city to catch a bus tend to board the same and this huge load of passengers at this point causes almost all buses to make stop here. The result is a commotion with countless passengers, at least two to three buses waiting to go on and few more making ways for the ISBT. Any space left is then occupied the small vehicle traffic plying on the highway and the shuttle buses operating between the new and the old bus station.

Or does he consider a soldier crouched in dark on the lookout for an enemy, with the gun in his hand as his sole friend, equivalent to the banker sitting in his plush, air-conditioned office, juggling money around with the maximum risk to him being a mere financial loss? No sir, they are poles apart. Sure, given an option, a soldier would like his work environment to be more comfortable, but ask a commercial pilot earning a six-figure salary per month-would he go and put his life at risk to guard the life of people he doesn’t even know? I am yet to meet an individual who says yes to that.

It’s really appalling at the way Mr. Jug looks at the work of a soldier. Therefore, I request him to have a look into the life of a soldier who has defended his motherland, the way he feels for it, the emotions that rise when he sees the enemy in front of him, the same enemy who is responsible for dead countrymen, for dead comrades, for orphaned children, for crippled Indians. I am sure near or far, Mr. Jug can find some defence personnel in his family itself. Sir, please try and listen to their part of the story.