Sanjay Raut accuses Maharashtra government of threatening auto drivers’ livelihoods

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut accused the Maharashtra government of threatening autorickshaw drivers’ livelihoods by allowing bike taxis. He claimed Rapido’s expansion could hurt Marathi youth dependent on autos and alleged political-business links between the aggregator and state ministers

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday accused the Maharashtra government of pushing autorickshaw drivers in Nashik on the verge of suicide by allowing bike taxis and depriving local Marathi youth of employment opportunities.

In a letter to Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, Raut said during his visit to Nashik earlier this month, more than a hundred Marathi youths met with him and told him they earn their livelihood and support their families by driving autorickshaws. A decision taken by the government has now put the livelihoods of thousands of such autorickshaw drivers at risk. Even today, the livelihoods of not merely thousands, but lakhs of young people across the state depend on driving auto-rickshaws, said the Rajya Sabha MP.

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“Since the government has failed to provide employment opportunities, we see graduates and educated young people driving auto-rickshaws day and night to make a living. Now, your government has decided to introduce bike taxi service through Ola, Uber and Rapido apps,” he said. The biggest impact of these Rapido bike taxis will be felt by auto-rickshaw drivers operating in and around tourist destinations in several cities, he argued.

“The decision taken by the transport department to introduce Rapido bike taxis amounts to pushing unemployed Marathi auto-rickshaw drivers across the state towards suicide,” Raut claimed. There is tremendous anger among auto-rickshaw drivers across the state against Rapido bike taxis, he insisted. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said auto-rickshaw drivers’ organisations wish to meet the transport minister and discuss this issue, but they were being denied an opportunity to meet him.

To draw the government’s attention to the problems faced by auto-rickshaw drivers, it was decided to hold a protest march from Nashik to Mantralaya (state secretariat in Mumbai, around 200km away), on August 10, However, permission for this protest was denied, Raut claimed. “It appears that some ministers in the state have financial and business associations with Rapido. Rapido has reportedly sponsored some ministers’ Dahi Handi celebrations, Ganesh festival events and cultural programmes, and appears to have provided donations amounting to crores of rupees,” Raut said in a dig at Sarnaik.

Last year, after Sarnaik cracked down on bike taxis for illegally plying commuters, it emerged a cab aggregator company was a lead sponsor for the Pro Govinda event organised by the Shiv Sena minister’s family in Thane city. Sarnaik had also faced criticism over the issue. “It therefore appears that, in return, Rapido has been allowed to operate at the expense of thousands of autorickshaw drivers,” Raut added.