Auto strike called off

Mumbai: The Mumbai Auto-Rickshaw Drivers’ Union on Monday withdrew its call for an indefinite strike across the state after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis agreed to meet Shashank Rao, the leader of the union, and address various grievances of autorickshaw drivers.

Mr Fadnavis and transport minister Diwakar Raote will be holding a meeting with Mr Rao at Mantralaya at 3 pm on Tuesday, the CMO said.

We have withdrawn the strike since we do not intend to cause any inconvenience to the common man, the union said.

 The autorickshaw drivers’ union has a number of demands, including a hike in minimum auto fares and complete shutdown of private taxi services across the state.

The news of the withdrawal comes a relief to millions of commuters.   

Over 2.2 lakh rickshaws would have remained off city roads if the indefinite strike had gone ahead.

Around 350 different associations across the state under the umbrella of the “Auto-Rickshaw Chalak Malak Sanghatana Sanyukta Kruti Samiti Maharashtra” had also called for a statewide strike.

Mr Rao, the general secretary of the Kruti Samiti, who is the union leader of the largest rickshaw association, has demanded that the government increase fares based on the recommendations of the Hakim Committee, as against the Khatua Committee.

As per reports, the unions want the government to freeze the process of issuing permits to auto-rickshaws, on grounds that their numbers (permits) have doubled.

“In Mumbai alone in the past one year, the number of auto-rickshaws has increased from one lakh to two lakh,” Mr Rao said.

He went on to say that many autos and buses had been operating illegally and added that they were eating into their business.

“There should be one team formed in each city to crack down on vehicles operating illegally,” Mr Rao demanded.