Mumbai auto strike: Drivers protest Marathi language mandate, commuters face trouble

With the authorities now giving out notices to autorickshaw drivers across Mumbai mandating them to speak Marathi a section of them on Monday launched a threeday strike leaving many office goers and other commuters in distressSeveral people took to social media stating that they were asked to deboard the autorickshaws While others posted videos of drivers demanding the removal of the Marathi language mandateHowever these were random groups of drivers that took up the initiative None of the trade unions have officially supported the strike callpopcorn numberAugust 20 descDay transport department launched statewide drive classDefaultCommuters wait in line for autorickshaws outside Malad stationCommuter SpeakldquoA strike of any mode of transport on a working day especially on a Monday is always inconvenient Though it was not a largescale protest it did hamper travel in the morning and in the eveningrdquo said Smita Joshi a Kandivli residentldquoThe share autos were working fine But the drivers running on meters have refused to work While todayrsquos protest wasnrsquot big authorities should definitely take a sign from this start of retaliation as it wonrsquot take long before this converts into a major protestrdquo said Rajesh Sawant a commuter from BorivliPolice officials manage the crowd waiting for autorickshaws at Dr Ambedkar Chowk in Kandivli WestldquoI lost an hour this morning just trying to catch an auto I left my law college in Kandivli West around noon to go to my residence Many autos were parked in Kandivli lanes but they all refused services citing a strike against the Marathi mandaterdquo said a commuter from MaladState warns driversThe Maharashtra Transport Department launched a statewide drive from August 20 to check driversrsquo knowledge of the Marathi language The Regional Transport Offices RTOs had on August 20 issued notices to over 1200 autorickshaws and taxis for lacking knowledge of Marathi According to State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik 165 lakh drivers have undergone Marathi training and received certificates Sarnaik had stated that drivers who fail to meet the requirement could lose their badgesPeople try to convince an autorickshaw driver outside Kandivli railway stationVoicesAjay Dubey an autorickshaw driverlsquoI have been driving in Mumbai for the last 16 years and have always served passengers honestly I do not speak Marathi but Mumbai has given me work and livelihood The proposed language requirement and strike are worrying for drivers like me We should not be denied our livelihood because we do not know MarathirsquoRahul Murat Yadav an autorickshaw driverlsquoI have been running an auto in Mumbai for nearly 10 years I understand the importance of Marathi but making it a condition for our livelihood will put nonMarathi drivers in difficulty We have families to support and have worked here peacefully for years The government should find a practical solutionrsquoPrakash Tukaram Salvi 50 an autorickshaw driver from MaladlsquoI started work around 9 am and by afternoon with heightened demand and inconvenienced commuters it was clear that limited autos are running today We didnrsquot hear anything from our unions so I guess this is an impromptu strike with selfparticipation from drivers who are affected by the Marathi language mandate I believe it is not that big of an issue if drivers just learn basic 10 per cent conversational Marathi the issue will be sortedrsquoDayashankar Yadav an autorickshaw driverlsquoFor 20 years Mumbai has been our workplace and we have earned our living by driving autos We respect Marathi and Maharashtra but many of us are not fluent in the language If the union goes on strike over this issue drivers like us will suffer Our livelihood should not be affectedrsquoRavi Tiwari 37 an autorickshaw driver from GoregaonlsquoNo strike communication was shared by our union so we havenrsquot observed any strike Most of the autos that operate on sharing fare are running today however availability of regular meteredfare rickshaws is almost half with drivers affected by the Marathi mandate observing a strike We are busier today with continuous faresrsquo