After a nine-month wait, the Ministry of Tourism organized the tour guide exam in August. However, they imposed an unexpected requirement: applicants had to provide a domicile certificate issued by the court in Gwalior, which was nearly impossible to obtain within the given timeframe since the court typically takes more than a week to process such documents. As a result, more than half of the applicants were unable to participate in the exam. I managed to secure the certificate and participated, but the Ministry’s attempt to reduce the number of applicants did not succeed.

Those who could not take the exam filed a lawsuit against the government in the High Court of Delhi. The court ordered the Tourism Ministry to hold a new exam for the affected applicants. This meant that everyone eventually had the chance to participate. However, immediately after the second exam, the applicants filed another lawsuit, claiming that the second exam was more difficult than the first and demanding a third exam for all participants. I am confident that the government will not be able to accommodate this demand, as doing so would likely lead to further lawsuits from those who took the initial exams.

As a result of these ongoing legal battles, the Ministry is unable to declare the results of either exam. Additionally, there is a pending case in the High Court of Jaipur regarding a previous exam, filed about five years ago, which suggests that it may take another five to six years to resolve the current issues and declare the results. With the Commonwealth Games scheduled for 2010, it seems unlikely that the government will be able to train the tour guides in time. The process involves resolving all legal cases, completing the admission process, conducting classes, and organizing tours. Given the current circumstances, I doubt that the government will be able to prepare the guides before the Games.