One Leg In Car, Another Out: Peculiar Driver Tradition In Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, a peculiar tradition continues to roll with every official car and every VVIP onboard. The moment a minister or an IAS-IPS officer approaches their vehicle, the driver adopts a unique posture: one foot inside the car, the other firmly planted outside. There is no official rulebook endorsing this ritual, but it has become an unwritten code performed in the name of "respect."
"When the officer sits, we stand," says Prakash Gajbhiye, a driver from the State Garage. "It is about respect... one foot up, one down - we are trained that way. We are taught how to walk with VIPs, how to talk to people, how to behave. I don't know about British times, but since I joined, this has become a habit."
"In our department," says Manoj Singh, General Secretary of the Government and Semi-Government Drivers Association, "there is a protocol that we can't leave the vehicle entirely, so we leave the seat halfway, stand with one foot outside. It's a sign of respect. Drivers for ministers and top bureaucrats, especially, are trained like this."
But behind this performative posture lies a far more uncomfortable reality of long hours and poor health. "We are on duty 24 hours," says driver Ashok Batham, adding, "Sometimes, we are driving while half-asleep, leaving food on the plate because the minister is ready to leave. Blood pressure, sugar... all of it is happening."
Driver Mirchi Lal feels the same: "There are too few of us, and work never ends. We're not robots. Even the approved posts aren't being filled. We just want people to be recruited for the sanctioned vacancies to be recruited."
These aren't isolated complaints. Union leaders said there has not been a single new appointment since 2005, even though 47 posts lie vacant. "Every minister should have two official drivers, but we are running the system on fumes," says Manoj Singh.
Politicians from both the ruling party and the opposition called for putting an end to the tradition.
"We chased the British out," said Hemant Katare, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, "but we're still following their traditions. Why should a driver keep standing like that until the officer arrives? This is part of a colonial hangover and it must go."
BJP MLA Dr Chintamani Malviya said, "The Honourable Prime Minister has called for erasing all signs of slavery. If there is a practice rooted in colonialism, officers themselves should let go of it. The system created by the British needs to end not just in files, but in habit."
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