Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
Special Correspondent
REVOLT: Autorickshaw drivers taking out a rally in Tirupur. (Right) Drivers staging a demonstration in the city on Tuesday.
COIMBATORE/Tirupur: Autorickshaw drivers belonging to various unions staged a demonstration in the city on Tuesday to protest against the district administration’s decision to fix Rs. 14 as the minimum meter fare. They also warned of an indefinite strike if authorities took action against them for taking excess fare from passengers. The Government had fixed this fare for Chennai in January and had given the districts the option of studying the local requirements and then fixing a fare. While the district administration decided to retain the fare at Rs. 14 for the first two kilometres, the committee insisted that the fare for Coimbatore should be fixed at Rs. 20 for one-and-a-half kilometre and at Rs. 10 for every subsequent kilometre. Not viable
Assembling under the banner of the Joint Committee of Coimbatore District Autorickshaw Workers’ Unions, the drivers condemned the “imposition” of the new fare on them. They rejected the fare contending that it was not arrived at in consultation with the unions. More importantly, it was not viable for the drivers as running expenses had increased. They said that only Rs. 20 would help them meet the running expenses they incurred every day. Giving a break-up of the expenses, the committee president P.K. Sukumaran said a litre of petrol and oil cost Rs. 60 and three litres of the fuel was necessary for every autorickshaw to make trips for an average 45 km a day. On an average, a driver would be able to earn only Rs. 270 a day. Of this, Rs. 180 would go towards fuel and Rs. 60 for autorickshaw rent, as most of the vehicles were not owned by the drivers. The drivers’ personal expense a day was Rs. 25. Totally, all these expenses ran up to Rs. 265. This left the drivers with only Rs. 5 as earnings on a day. In such a situation, it was unfortunate that the administration had announced the fare unilaterally, the committee said. The unions also wanted the administration to grant approval for all the autorickshaw stands. At present, the local bodies, police and the administration considered all the stands as unauthorised. Approval for stands
The demand for approval came in the wake of the administration announcing that passengers could hire autorickshaws from any point and not necessarily at the stands. The unions said that only stands would ensure steady income for the drivers and therefore, these should not be removed. Mr. Sukumaran said that the Government should arrange for loans with subsidy for buying digital meters. A meter cost about Rs. 3,500 and the present income was not enough to buy these without any assistance from the Government. The committee also opposed the move to shift the Regional Transport Office (South), stating that there was no need to waste tax payers’ money on paying rent for a private premises for this office. The committee said in a press release that the present premises on Dr. Balasundaram Road belonged to the Government and this was able to house the offices of the Regional Transport Officers, North and South and also of the Deputy Transport Commissioner. Transport authorities said that it was unfair on the part of the committee to criticise the move to shift the office, especially when everyone knew full well how congested the existing premises was. Our Staff Reporter from Tirupur writes: More than 200 autorickshaws went off the roads in Tirupur on Tuesday in protest against the new rates fixed by the district administration. Auto drivers owing allegiance to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and Anna Tholirsanga Peravai (a labour wing of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) under the aegis of Joint Committee of Trade Unions took out a rally to the Revenue Divisional Office here to urge the authorities to revise the tariff. The unions argued that the new rates could be affordable in metros such as Chennai and implementation of the same in districts such as Coimbatore would affect the drivers to a great extent. Revise fare
The protesters said that the unions had urged the Collector to fix a minimum fare of Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 for every subsequent kilometres and that was not accepted by the authorities. Taking into consideration the hike in petrol prices and spare parts and traffic snarls, the administration should upwardly revise the fare. They later submitted a memorandum to the Revenue Divisional Officer.
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