[1]Chennai: With the transport officials delaying in inviting the auto drivers trade union for dialogues in the wake of SC setting August 22 deadline for implementing meter-based fares, TN Auto drivers federation has decided to stage a protest across the state on August 13 demanding fixing of a ‘fair' tariff for autorickhsaws.
“We have been urging the government for long demanding implementation of rationalised fares, but it has fallen on deaf ears.
While several other cities including New Delhi have already hiked the meter fares reasonably well, TN has not modified the meter fares since 2007, resulting in needless quarrel between us and commuters,” lamented M.S. Rajendhiran, president, TN Auto Drivers Federation, the state’s largest autorickshaw drivers union that has over 30,000 members.
Irked over the transport officials’ slipshod attitude in fixing new fares for autorickshaws, despite the apex court’s admonitions, the CITU affiliated trade union has decided to stage a protest across the state.
“The protests will be held in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli and the union territory of Puducherry. Our demands include withdrawal of the rule that mandates eighth standard pass for a driver to obtain a ‘badge’ to drive autorickshaws in the state,” he added.
Last week, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on the Tamil Nadu government for not complying with the deadline (July 6) set by it to implement the new tariff for autorickshaw meters in the state, while slapping Rs 10,000 fine on the state for non-compliance of its order dated December 23, 2012, despite adjourning the hearing thrice on basis of request of TN government.
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