Free auto rides, really?

campus ISSUE

It’s admission time in Delhi and hundreds of students from all over India can be seen strolling the college campuses one after another in this Delhi heat to fill up the forms.

 Well, it seemed that students this year have got a companion to fight it along with. Their walk around the Delhi University’s north campus looked a little easier with Hike, the mobile messaging app, that provided free auto rides to students within the Delhi University’s north campus.

As a part of the initiative, from June 13th to June 19th, 12 hike auto rickshaws are stationed outside the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station, for helping students commute. These autos are there to provide to and fro service to students during the peak time for form submissions from 8 am to 5 pm.

But, the picture is not always rosy. According many students, the service was not as effective as they had proposed. Anuj Tyagi, an applicant shared his experience about the service. “There was absolute chaos outside the Metro station because of the rush and due to the free services by the autos, there were too many students. And due to the rush I could not get an auto and had to take a rickshaw at the end.” 

Another applicant, Tulika Nandi too had a tough time. “It was my first day in north campus. I was confused and the chaos outside the station made me more nervous. First the rickshaw pullers and then these free autos. I could not understand a thing. Moreover, there were not enough autos to cater to the numerous students.”

Although it was a noble idea to help students during the admissions as it is a stressful time for the youngsters, the organiser had not given much thought to the large number of students who would opt for the free auto rides. Many students were found waiting for the autos rides and there was total chaos. After sometime the service was also called off. Was it that the organisers could not handle the situation? 

Defending themselves, the spokesperson, said, “The activity was never called off at anytime. In fact, given the overwhelming response from students, we started much earlier from the scheduled time. Unfortunately, with the traffic building up around the campus may have added to the delay in ferrying students back and forth.”

Utkash Pujari, an out-station student from Dehradun too shared his share of hassles with Metrolife. “I am totally new to this place and thought to take these autos which could have made my life easier. But, unfortunately the story turned out to be different.

 At around 12.30 or 1 in the afternoon, when you could find thousands of students and is the peak hour, the service was called off. I could not even see the person standing with a plaque about the organisation and its services, leave aside free rides.”