Ahmedabad – Nine auto-rickshaw unions have announced an indefinite strike starting from 12 midnight(starting from Tuesday morning) in protest against what rickshaw drivers term “wrongful harassment” by the city police during a recent traffic enforcement drive. An estimated 2 lakh auto-rickshaws are expected to remain off the roads, potentially stranding thousands of commuters. However it has to be seen whether the strike call evokes response or not, because some of such strike calls in recent past received no response from average rickshaw drivers as they choose not to danger their daily earnings even for a day.

During the recent drive to enforce traffic-rules, the city police in Ahmedabad registered a staggering 1,716 cases against rickshaw drivers for various traffic violations. The drive was following the recent High Court order against those violating the traffic rules. However the rickshaw association office bearers allege that police targeted rickshaw drivers during this drive. The unions allege that the police are unfairly targeting them while other vehicles like taxis, dumpers, bikes, and private travel vehicles are seemingly exempt from similar strict enforcement.

The police detained 309 rickshaws for driving without a valid license or necessary documents, 98 rickshaws for Meter violations (including meter off), 79 rickshaws for carrying more passengers than permitted. However, rickshaw drivers point out that digital meters in rickshaws cease to function or cause errors during the season of monsoon, but some rickshaw drivers were fined by police even in these types of cases. Rickshaw union representatives contend that the police are singling out auto-rickshaw drivers. “It seems as if only rickshaw drivers are breaking the rules!” one union leader stated, highlighting their perception of unfair treatment.Drivers also accuse the police of using them to meet targets, particularly when it comes to imposing fines. DeshGujarat