Beef Vindaloo

by Sridevi Padmanabhan

The Auto-rickshaw Drivers’ Welfare Union (ADWU) in Bangalore has announced a two day strike to force the government to take notice of their plight and accede to their demands! They say that the strike has been the result of long and persistent efforts by the government to try and curtail their basic rights. They want to protest the recent spate of laws enforced against them which they say, have been enforced only to appease citizen’s activist groups. They strongly believe that increasing fines levied on auto drivers, and regulation of autos through pre-paid booths, are counter-productive to the welfare of auto drivers across the country.

They want all fines to be restricted to a maximum of Rs 100, because otherwise they claim it would make a serious dent into their daily earnings. They also want autos to ply only between 9 am and 6 pm and their final demand is for a ‘mood’ tax to be imposed.
Ratnam Shivaiah, President of the ADWU explains, “A ‘mood’ tax is a concept that will help redress some of the grave wrongs that the government is perpetuating against the auto drivers. It is multi-purpose tax and its use is left completely to the auto-driver’s discretion! There are many times when an auto driver might not be in the mood to drive to a far place, or hates going into small lanes, or feels the traffic en route to the destination is bad, or that it has become dark or even if the customer looks well-off. If any of these instances make him feel like levying the mood tax, he can do so upon arrival at the destination. This is of course over and above what the customer pays as metre fare.”

Maniganthan has been playing his auto for almost 12 years in the city. He feels that the new laws are extremely unfair and wants the ‘mood’ tax law passed. He says, “The government is not even trying to understand us! How can we be expected to say yes to any destination the customer wants to go to? What if we don’t like the place or we feel the roads are crowded? My ears are sensitive and cannot tolerate noise from traffic. I also don’t want my auto to get scratched going through narrow lanes to drop customers right to their doorstep. For me to agree to put myelf and my auto through this trauma, it’s only fair that the customer should pay atleast triple the metre fare.”

Another matter the ADWU want to look into is the problem of foreigners as customers. They feel that the increasing presence of foreigners who work in Bangalore should subsequently have a positive effect on their earnings. They should be free to take them in a roundabout route, charge them hefty amounts for short distances and generally help them unload the dollars that they seem to have plenty of. Muniyappa, a young auto driver who’s relatively new in this profession says, “I don’t understand what the fuss is about just because an auto-driver robs a foreigner in a deserted lane! What else do you expect if you wave temptation in our face. These incidents are natural and should be taken in our stride.”

Ratnam Shivaiah, President reiterates, “This is just the beginning. We have been lying low for too long. The ADWU has plans for a revolution that will shake the system and stop this blatant abuse of auto drivers.”

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