Special Thanks to Mr. Sharad Rao, without your latest actions, I could never be able to write down this article and give so much importance to Auto Rickshaw Drivers
Imagine a sequence where,
Imagine a sequence where,
Mother Earth says.. increase the number of trees on me.. Else, I will go on indefinite strike and will stop rotating..
The Sun says, give me cold water to drink else I will turn off my power...
In "Metro" Cities of India, this is a very very common scene... unreasonable demands.. need ransom...
Excellent Sequence,
After frequent complaints on mischief on meters and after "Soul-Revamping" movement by Anna Hazare, on 16th and 17th Sep 2011, RTO Mumbai decided to strike on the auto drivers and punish the rascals. Results were unimaginative... Out of 150 autos inspected, 97 were riding with errant meters. Great to know. They play around with Mango People's money like anything. Police showed excellent guts and punished them with reasonable fine.
Sunday was pleasant.. Auto Drivers know that people don't commute extensively on Sundays. Monday was a dark story. Auto Drivers went on strike against R.T.O. Mumbai. Their point was to "Not to Punish" errant drivers.
Story was covered by all leading news papers, times of India, mid-day, hindustan times, etc.
Another Story..
At Kandivali East, a family wanted to go to their destination and they tried to stop an auto for this. Auto driver refused to go. As per the fundamental right, family told the auto driver that they will lodge a complaint against this in RTO. Case Over.. Auto Driver started abusing the family and fumed. It was a case of 9 PM. He gathered some more auto drivers and beat the family persons. Crowd was deaf spectator.
Something More...
Suddenly Auto drivers thought, lets increase over package home. This story sounds similar to our MPs decided their own package. We understand that there are recent hikes in fuel prices and their demands should be considered. Currently they are driving with minimum fare charge of 11 Rs. Fuel prices have also gone up by more than 10% so we can understand if they also demand for 12-13 Rs minimum fare.
They dropped a bomb. They required minimum fare charge of 19 Rs. We can understand all the parameters of inflation, petrol price hikes and all related parameters. But, with effective increase in package by 85%????????
In addition, auto drivers said.. We will keep doing the meter tempering till our demands are met (19Rs Minimum Fare) and we will go on Indefinite strike from Nov 9 if demands are not met.
Autos went on strike again on 4th Oct.
Their Hero.. The real star.. is Mr. Sharad Rao (NCP Leader). I would say that Sharad Rao is more powerful than Mr. Prithviraj Chawhan - Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He holds the nerves of Mumbai Transportation (Auto and BEST Bus) in his hand. He commented, "We want to ensure that every auto driver takes at least 25000 Rs. home every month." People also play smart. Now, if it is officially called as a strike, Govt may object. Mr. Sharad Rao said that this strike is not called by the union. Who so ever, individual want to join it they are joining. "SMART MOVE"
People Blocked.. Choked...
On the other side,
People decided to use BEST Buses for daily commute. Try to type Best bus conductor complaints in Google, you will find more than 75000 results. Law preventing physical and verbal assault does not apply in their case. They can throw you out off the bus if you give him 5 Rs Coin for 4 Rs ticket if you don't have exact change.
Condition was serious. Some political parties came out of the movie theater and at last started giving reviews.
MNS Chief Raj Thackrey said, "Most of the people involved in this arrogant behavior are from other states"
He also warned Sharad Rao by saying, "I want to tell Sharad Rao that Maharashtra Government does not have enough personnel to provide security to auto taxi drivers tomorrow if people come on to streets." "If they want to show their strength, Raj Thackeray will show his strength,"
Fight will go on... We will see.. who wins out of Sharad Rao Vs Raj Thackrey.. but one thing is sure...
Mumbai Janta will surely lose..
Jai Hind..
Untraceble
Anant Joshi
