They have decided to protest on November 27 if the agenda is not met by the state government
In a four-hour-long marathon meeting, autorickshaw unions have decided to go on a strike across Maharashtra for 44 days from now. On Sunday, in a meeting held in Koparkhairane, the unions of autorickshaws proposed a three-point agenda. They have decided to protest on November 27 if the agenda is not met by the state government. This can also turn into an indefinite strike if demands are not met. This is the first time that unions have threatened strike after the continuous fuel hike.
The unions across Mumbai, Pune, Beed, Nagpur, Nasik, Vidharba etc have demanded fare hike, elimination of third party insurance and replace it with welfare fund for drivers and lastly removing illegally operating rickshaws and other vehicles ferrying passengers. To begin with, the unions want the state government to hike fares with immediate effect.
The unions want the base fare to be Rs 21 from Rs 18 in Mumbai and similar hike of Rs 3 across the state. "The government has not accepted the Khatua committee report yet. We want that they should calculate the fare hike using Hakim formula. It has been over 3 years since hike has been in-force," said Shashank Rao, president, Maharashtra Rajya Autorickshaw Chalak Malak Sanyukt Kruti Samiti.
Apart from this, the unions want to do away with third party insurance, that comes into effect during vehicle accidents. The union leaders claim that as involvement of auto rickshaws are less in accidents; they want the state government to convert this amount into welfare fund for drivers. This will cover pension, medical, housing and other facilities for drivers. There are over 8.5 lakh permit holders across Maharashtra and the cumulative sum added as insurance is around Rs 6000 crore.
Lastly, they want the illegally plying auto rickshaws, private vehicles and cabs to go off road. These vehicles ply passengers at lower fares. "If these demands are not met by November 26, then we will protest outside different RTO offices across the state. It can also be an indefinite strike depending on what government does," added Rao.
This comes at a time when passengers are complaining about the auto rickshaw drivers on various accounts. Over the past several days people have been taking the social media to post their frustration. The issues range from overloading of passengers in autos, overcharging, fast e-meters, refusal to ply, breaching traffic rules among other offences.
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