Commuters faced harrowing time as on Wednesday as more than 2000 auto drivers under the banner of Sikshit Berozgar Tempo Chalak Sanchalak Sangh remained off the road from 6 am from 3 pm.
The drivers also held a massive demonstration led by Congress State president Ajoy Kumar and Jamshedpur MlA Banna Gupta disrupting the traffic movement in the city.
The move was against the city police’s crackdown againstIJ IJauto-rickshaw operators, for not possessing driving license, pollutions papers, permits, insurance and other documents required as per Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) since May 18 onwards.
led by Congress leader and former Jamshedpur West MlA, Banna Gupta, patron of Sikshit Berozgar Tempo Chalak Sanchalak Sangh, the drivers called for a nine-hour strike of all auto-rickshaws and a protest march from Aambagan ground in Sakchi to district collectorate to submit a memorandum to the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar.
The State Congress president said that the administration should take immediate steps to address issues of the auto drivers. He noted that when large vehicles can run inside the city so why not tempos. District administration cannot create two laws for rich and poor. If that happens, drivers are willing to fight. The Congress party will not at all allow the government officials to harass the drivers.
“Despite repeated request the administration is harassing the drivers. We had no option but to go on strike. We have set June 11 as deadline to redress our grievances otherwise we will go on an indefinite strike,” warned Banna Gupta.
The Congress leader said that they have asked the administration to allow special camp for auto-rickshaw operators at the district transport office for at least two months during which operators can prepare and update their vehicle’s document. He also asked the administration to waive off the fine of Rs 50 for not possessing permit as the government is not issuing permit to ply autorickshaws in city.
East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar said that they have received the representations of the auto-rickshaw association and would be taking a decision soon only after consultation with the government.
In a bid to tighten noose around the erring autorickshaws operating without city permits, the Traffic Police has embarked on a drive across the city. The decision to conduct regular inspection comes in due to spurt in cases of mishaps in the city. Secretary of the Sangh Shyam Kinkar Jha has raised a voice of resent against the traffic police drive.