The general public faced problems as Vikrams operators of the city kept their vehicles off the roads for few hours on Tuesday, alleging unnecessary harassment by the officials of transport department. Trouble started in the morning when teams of transport department started a drive to penalise erring Vikrams who were transporting more passengers than their capacity. The agitated Vikram operators ceased the operations of their vehicles and assembled at the Parade ground.
The President of Vikram Jan Kalyan Samiti (VJKS), Satish Sharma said that the transport department is harassing the poor Vikram operators due to which they are facing extreme financial hardships. He alleged that on Tuesday morning the parties of transport department imposed heavy penalties on many Vikrams plying on route No 5 and 3.
Sharma said that after discussing the situation with office bearers of the association he called the Vikram operators of the city to stop their operation and assemble at Parade ground. “At Parade ground we decided to hold a sit in before the residence of State Chief Minister in protest against the dictatorial attitude of the transport officials,” he said. Sharma further informed that the district administration persuaded them to hold meeting with Regional Transport Officer (RTO).
After intervention of district administration, a delegation of VJKS met RTO Dinesh Pathoi at his office and expressed its anguish over the departmental action. The operators demanded that the department should grant them a status of Stage carriage as they are serving the people from last 35 years. After assurance from RTO the VJKS called off its strike. later talking to The Pioneer the RTO, Pathoi said the Vikram operators were told that the issue of conversion of their permit from contract carriage to stage carriage would be discussed in the next meeting of Regional Transport Authority. He however clarified that the departmental action on Vikrams transporting more passengers than the sanctioned load would continue.
It is pertinent to mention here that the issue of conversion of Vikrams into stage carriage is a contentious one with legal implications.
The Vikrams at present are provided permit of contract carriage according to which they can ferry six passengers and one driver (6+1) and not pick individual
passengers. As a prelude to conversion of these vehicles to Stage carriage (like city buses) the department has given permit of 7+1 to some Vikrams.
The strike of Vikrams for some hours caused problems to people of the city who prefer these vehicles for commuting. The city buses were overloaded on the day due to the agitation of the Vikram operators.