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After a day’s protest, rickshaw strike called off in Pune; citizens aggrieved
More than 17 auto rickshaw unions went off the road on Monday to demand strict action against illegally running bike taxis and app-based cabs in the city
More than 17 auto rickshaw unions went off the road on Monday to demand strict action against illegally running bike taxis and app-based cabs in the city.
In the evening, the unions called off their strike after receiving assurances that the authorities would take action and shut down the illegally operating bike taxis and their mobile application. As per instructions from Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil, Haveli Tehsildar Trupti Kolte met with protesting auto driver union leaders, and the strike was called off after a discussion and assurance from her.
Earlier, a massive protest took place outside the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) in the morning, with appeals being made to the state transport department. On the other hand, citizens had a difficult time travelling as many of them could not get an auto rickshaw for a commute.
The ‘Baghtoy Rickshawala’ auto-rickshaw union had called for the protest and indefinite strike, which was later supported by all prominent unions, including the Rickshaw Panchayat auto union, the state’s oldest auto establishment.
Since the morning, there have been very few auto-rickshaws on city streets, with drivers only accepting passengers in emergencies.
Keshav Kshrisagar, president of the Baghtoy Rikshawala auto union, commented on the strike, saying, “Our business has suffered as the number of two-wheeler taxis in the city has gone up. There is no legal authorisation for these bike taxis to operate, and we have complained to the state transportation department about the issue. Many auto drivers have committed suicide as a result of the lack of work, so we will continue the strike until all bike taxis are removed from the state.”
Many auto rickshaw drivers and all union members had lined up from COEP to the RTO office at Sangamwadi bridge. At the demonstration, a large number of drivers parked their vehicles and raised anti-government slogans.
The major demands of auto unions are to take strict action and ban bike taxis from the state, reduce CNG rates, change the base policy of electric vehicles and stop harassment from the finance companies.
As a result of the strike, buses in the city were overcrowded and people, especially women, faced trouble boarding buses.
Citizens, on the other hand, had to suffer as there was no auto rickshaw service. Ramesh Chavan, a senior citizen, stated, “I had a doctor’s appointment today, but I had to drive on my own due to the auto unions’ strike. I am not physically fit to ride a bike, but we had no other choice.”
Another citizen Kavita Jethi said, “We had organised a family function at our house. Many guests were invited but most of them didn’t turn up due to an auto rickshaw strike. Elderly people and even ordinary citizens rely on rickshaws as they cannot travel on crowded public transportation buses.”
The auto unions have given a deadline of December 10 to take action, after which they will call for a strike again.
BOX: HEAD
More than 60K rickshaw permits
In 1997 the then government-imposed restrictions on issuing auto rickshaw permits in the city. According to that earlier rules for every 1 lakh population 800 auto rickshaw permits were issued in that particular city. Currently, there are more than 60,000 auto rickshaw permit holders in the Pune region, and in the year 2017, these restrictions were removed by the state government and the number of new auto permits increased.
