The Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen Association has 10 major demands that it wants fulfilled
If you thought that the auto strike which delayed you yesterday was only because the auto drivers are upset with Ola and Uber taxis, you were wrong. They have many demands and also want the government to give them homes at affordable rates.
Shashank Rao, the head of the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen Association claimed that this is one of the demands in their charter, and complete focus remains on the same.
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Rao said, “Auto drivers are also public servants, the government should firstly consider this demand and provide them with affordable housing. We are pressing for all the demands in our charter.”
The auto drivers held Mumbai to ransom yesterday by keeping away almost 85 per cent of the over 1 lakh autos that ply on a daily basis. The unions are miffed that their business in most places in Mumbai is affected by the mobile aggregators, like Uber and Ola.
The charter
There are some 10 major demands that the union has put forth as the reason behind their strike. The top demands are that Ola and Uber are illegal taxi companies, and they be shut down, and drivers who are plying autos for past three years be given badges without any condition. They also want permits be given to auto drivers in the waiting list of 2014. They want 1 lakh more auto permits to be given to Mumbai. They also want an independent security agency for auto rickshaws. They are also demanding the status of public servant. Auto drivers and owners also want homes at affordable rate or land for their unions.
Only a solution
However, MLA Nitesh Rane, who also runs the Swabhimaan Auto union, claims that homes or land is not part of his demands and his union won’t go on a strike. “Our representatives will be meeting the minister today and we will come out with a solution. I think a solution is more important than going on a strike and also, the demand for affordable housing is not in our charter,” he said.
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