FLEXIBILITY FOR INDIAN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS RULES

        Of late the system of extracting money for the government built over-bridges, flyovers and road repairs on the National Highway in India has become a contentious issue. There has been numerous protests, dharnas and road blockades. This is particularly true of places where the density of the population is too high and where the locals have to move about for their daily needs and requirements one way or the other over these areas. Hence, crisscrossing the National Highway toll gates are becoming all too common for those engaging in short hops.
         Enigmatic toll gates rules are yet another thing altogether where the common folks have less of chance to speak against as the Government seems to be doing its best by modernizing the otherwise dilapidated road conditions. Now what is the problem? The main problem is that people or vehicles be it a two wheeler, a car or a truck passing through these highways have to pay toll which is a system of extracting revenue from the people who use it so as to maintain these highways.
          However, this is okay as far as the National averages are concerned where highways appear far away from the actual residential areas. Even if a major accident or massacre or mass rapes take place in such areas in many other parts of the country then it is reported only the next day or even a couple of days later. True, what else can be done with poor communication and absence of any social network. What I mean to say is that these highways are way away from the place where the population lives. In Kerala this is not so. In fact many people in good density live and work near these toll gates.Their livelihood depends on commuting frequently.
         The irony is that they have to do it several times a day. It is okay for the day as the payment to and for through the toll gates are extracted once only, but what about the next day and the next and so on. What can the government do about it? Well, it needs to think along this line for sooner or later urbanization would speed elsewhere in the country as they did in Kerala. The best suggestion would be do as follows:

• The toll gates should be able to extract the amount from long distance travelers as they did earlier. 
• The toll gates should demand something like a 'blue card' or any other card for that matter whereby the people possessing them are allowed free to pass through without any hindrance.
• These blue card ought to be sold by the respective RTO office to residents living within a defined area near to the toll gates or town by extracting only a token amount and renewable every month.
• Every state government should pass the order and come to an understanding with the Indian highway authorities. 
•  Ruling RTO offices of Thrissur, Koch and Thrivanthapuram and others could make some kind of ammendments to the existing rules by involving the National Highway authority into the process of evolving a common program that could remove the anxiety of the people who are going to be worst effected.
• Frequency electronically meters can be conceived so that vehicle numbers that are frequently passing through the toll area can be identified and some concession could be allowed. This again ought to be updated periodically so that vehicle owners do not take any undue advantage of it. 

Why the blue card you might ask? Well, nothing the blue color isn't being used anywhere and the is quite uncommon color. That's all. But it surely would help people passing the tollgates in distress.