Litterateurs roped in to teach cabbies Marathi

“Going forward, knowledge of Marathi will be mandatory for the drivers of app-based services such as Ola and Uber under the upcoming aggregator policy. We are in the midst of drafting the policy which will be declared soon,” said Pratap Sarnaik, transport minister

MUMBAI: The state transport department announced on Wednesday that alongside testing Marathi language skills of all licenced auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in Maharashtra from May 1, in order to weed out fake permit holders, it is developing a new aggregator policy to make the knowledge of Marathi mandatory for app-based bike, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers as well.

Pratap Sarnaik (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

“Going forward, knowledge of Marathi will be mandatory for the drivers of app-based services such as Ola and Uber under the upcoming aggregator policy. We are in the midst of drafting the policy which will be declared soon,” said Pratap Sarnaik, transport minister.

The minister underscored that no checks will be made on app-based vehicle drivers when the drive to test Marathi skills, declared earlier, takes effect from May 1.

Litterateurs roped in for teaching module

The state transport department has called a meeting of litterateurs on Thursday to develop a structured training programme to teach the local language to drivers in the state transport sector who don’t speak the language, ahead of the May 1 drive. Those attending the meeting will include Ujjwala Mehendale, president of Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh; and poets Mahesh Keluskar, Ashok Bagwe, Satish Solankurkar and Arun Mhatre, among others. They will discuss the way to impart communication skills to non-Marathi speaking drivers.

The drive will be conducted at 59 regional and sub-regional transport offices.

“The decision to make Marathi mandatory is not new, as it already exists in the Motor Vehicles Rules. The only difference is that we will in future extend it to drivers of app-based taxis and autos,” said Sarnaik.

Meanwhile, upset with the decision, some unions representing auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers have threatened to launch a state-wide agitation from May 4 and a signature campaign against the drive. Transport department officials however said the tests were made mandatory as authorities in Mira-Bhayandar observed that many out-of-state drivers were unable to communicate in Marathi with passengers, which often created inconvenience for commuters.

Shashank Sharad Rao, president of Autorickshaw Chalak Malak Sanghatana Sanyukt Kruti Samiti Maharashtra (ACMSSKSM), said: “Drivers in MMR and across Maharashtra will protest the government’s decision to make Marathi mandatory. How will the government implement it for Ola and Uber drivers – how will it distinguish app-based drivers from the others, as the former’s information is registered with the operators?”

“Though the drivers have threatened protests, we are firm on our stance. But at the same time to encourages non-Marathi drivers to develop familiarity with the language we are formulating the training programme with writers and poets on Thursday,” said Sarnaik.

As the government is keen to implement the decision, the move is likely to revive strong identity politics. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS has started putting stickers on auto-rickshaws in Mumbai, stating that the driver knows Marathi.

(With inputs from PTI)