The world has gone through many transformations. There are countries around the world that have really found advancements in almost all areas of life. We claim to be an emerging economy and an advanced nation but it seems far from any reality.We have so much of disparities in our nation. There is a section of people which enjoy the best of luxuries in the world but then there are sections of people who don’t posess small resources and don’t have food to eat or even don’t have a house for shelter.
Our Govt.’s from time to time have never shown their true potential to improve the conditions of the people. Infact most of them seem to be engaged in cheap politics for the sake of their vote bank.The genuine issues have never been on the priority lists of the various Governments that were expected to be the saviors for the people of the Nation. Most unfortunate they are always busy to gain an undue power through proping up the issues taking advantage in terms of religion,caste etc. But it is alarming and introspective to find more and more people getting trapped in this hate world.
The Governments have initiated some vital projects but those projects need end to end monitoring and effective execution and control. But there is hardly any seriousness in those projects and they are always backed by half hearted attempts. The corruption is at its peak which has made life of masses miserable in this country. The prices of the products are always on the rise but the quality of the services is drastically coming down.
I am a frequent traveler from Gwalior to Kashmir. I like to analyze the experiences but my recent journey has been pathetic. First the train journeys are no longer comfort giving although we pay a big amount and expect the good services. I booked the ticket up to Jammu in a sleeper coach at a double cost than it was priced five years back but could find the services very ugly. The window panes of the coaches are very loose and since it is chilly winter, travelers had to face the wrath. You can find the charging points but they hardly function in the modern trains. There is dirt and dust all around and the toilets in the trains are pity and hardly taken care of by the authorities. Even the AC coaches nowadays do give us the feel of a general class although fares are no less than an air fare.
My next important destination to stay was Jammu. The Jammu & Kashmir National highway was blocked. There is one way traffic allowed on the highway and we had to wait for few days for green signal by the Traffic control room and believing in their functions. So an announcement was made that we have to reach Nagrota point by 9 A.M and when we reached that point, the traffic officials there were clueless. There were thousands of vehicles stranded on the highway. When people began to ask the traffic officials, their cabs were tortured. Even some of the agitators were beaten to pulp by the policemen there by big lathis (sticks).
It is surprising that twice in a day announcement was made on radio, TV and on calling control room that traffic will be plying one side from Jammu to Srinagar. But there on highway it was realized that both side traffic was functional and in fact traffic from Srinagar to Jammu looked more dominant. It was a big suffering for the commuters from Jammu to Srinagar due to traffic mismanagement on the highway. Cabs were running at a snail’s pace and then this biting cold with minus temperature on highway could make the life hell. While narrating the ordeal, one truck driver was on way to Jammu from Srinagar since fourteen long days but had to wait for few more days to cross that 300 kilometer Mount Everest like journey. There was hardly any traffic officials present on the highway which could control the traffic jam. They had fixed their presence at some points just to increase the sufferings for the passengers on the highway. The ‘sufaarish walas’ (those who find good terms with the officers and offer bribes) are always heavy over the poor masses whom they feel are bound to suffer. The condition was never smooth and was more challenging and disturbing while returning from the Srinagar to Jammu. The road condition is always worst on Jammu and Kashmir highway. There is always land sliding on this highway which looks hard to be controlled despite we claim to live in an ultra modern age and having state of art infrastructure and the resources. We have lost greater number of precious lives on this terrible road and there is no end to the losses. Our Govt. seems hardly serious to find any concrete solution to this unending problem. There are projects going on and if taken seriously and speedily can offer huge relief to the commuters on this deadly highway. There is poor state of affairs in this country and good men and effective policies are needed to turn it better and progressive.

The Author is an Assistant Professor, ITM University Gwalior
Email:---shahidamin15@gmail.com