Oscar Fernandes has become the Union Highways Minister at a time when the Government is less than a year away from going to the polls and highway projects are more in news due to the disputes surrounding them.But, in the first three weeks after having taken charge, Fernandes has hit the road in a manner that few of his predecessors have. While there may be no data to support this, many in the Ministry admit he has surely clocked more kilometres on the road than his predecessors, going by the first three weeks.

He plans to visit Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and the North-East over the next few days. I use trains, buses and cars to commute as I get to interact with people. Recently, I went to Bangalore. Between Bangalore and Mangalore, I used train on one route and bus on the other.