New Delhi: New Delhi's taxi drivers will be getting a crash course in English language.
In a bid to help foreigners find their way around the city, ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games that New Delhi will host, New Delhi's taxi drivers will be getting a crash course in English language.
Transport authorities will require cab and rickshaw drivers to take compulsory English classes starting July, The Times of India newspaper reported on Monday.
The drivers must pass a language proficiency exam each year, together with their vehicle roadworthiness test, the paper quoted city transport commissioner V S Madan as saying.
'The program is aimed at the cabbie or an auto (rickshaw) driver because he is the first person a passenger interacts with on arrival in the city,' Madan said."That's why we want drivers to converse properly and not in sign language," he added.
Officials at the transport authority could not immediately be reached for comment.
Authorities want the drivers to have a 2,000-word vocabulary after four years of training and will give the drivers English lessons on audio tapes to play in their vehicles while waiting for fares, the paper reported.
By the time the games begin, the drivers should be able to give directions, take passengers to restaurants of their choice, discuss cricket and the merits of various flea markets, the paper said.
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