Govt decisions must involve all stakeholders

Many cabbies said they find the fare hike more of a hurdle than help. Pic/Bipin Kokate

On Day 1 of the hike in taxi and auto fares on Monday, most drivers seemed unwilling to accept the new amounts.

This would be a fair indicator of the disgruntlement on the ground and the seeming high-handedness of the government that shoved the fare hike down the throats of cabbies and auto drivers in the city, despite their steadfast refusal.

A test drive by this paper on Day 1 of the hiked fares showed that cabbies would have even been happy with a Rs 2 cut in fares.

The pandemic and the resultant lockdown has badly affected the working class.

Most continue to opt for cheaper modes of travel even if it means waiting for hours for one to arrive. In this scenario, autos and cabs, once a preferred mode of transport, are a luxury that not many can afford these days.

Cab and auto drivers have, over the past years, almost aggressively demanded fare hikes at regular intervals and yet refused one this year. The authorities should have stopped to ask why.

Why has the government decided instead to run roughshod over these drivers, increasing their woes rather than mitigating them?

It is time for the authorities to stop bullying and start listening to the stakeholders. What is needed now is a shot in the arm for the beleaguered auto and taxi drivers. They want business to increase, whereas this fare hike has meant lower earnings. Recalibrating meters, too, means a full day's loss of business that these drivers can ill-afford.

If the government can't roll back the hike, it could make good its haste by at least providing soft loans to these drivers for meter recalibration. The aim should be to help, not hinder.