Say commuters; major unions also stayed away from the protest

Auto strike a total failure

Say commuters; major unions also stayed away from the protest

As strikes go, yesterday's auto rickshaw strike was a failure, as most rickshaws were plying on city roads as usual, without supporting the strike called by major unions.

Kiran Kumar (28), working in a private firm on MG Road, who was boarding an auto said, "It was not looking like an auto strike today.
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I got an auto easily in the morning to come to office and even now at 9 pm, I am going back home by auto. I paid the normal fare in the morning and even now the auto driver didn't ask for extra money."

Around 25,000 members of the Jai Karnataka Auto Drivers Union didn't participate in the strike, thus
providing much respite to Bangaloreans from the nationwide bandh yesterday.

There are around 1.2 lakh auto rickshaws in the city, out of which around 80,000 autos are legal (plying with a permit).

There were not many autos in the morning on the roads, but as the day passed, most of them started plying freely in the city.

Jai Karnataka Auto Drivers Union is the only association, which did not take part in the strike. "With around 25,000 members, our union is the largest in the city. All of them are on the field to serve the public.

Why we have to go on strike if all our demands have been fulfilled? The government has increased the fare; quashed use of single glass pane and so on."
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Said S Jayaram, union president.u00a0 Another union member added that around 60 per cent of the auto rickshaws were plying on city roads.

He added, "Since the major festivals are around the corner, people will be busy shopping and if the autos are off the road, they will have to suffer.

We should not harass the public since without them we can't survive and have to respect them. We don't want to entertain some communist party which has called for the strike."

Uncalled for

Transport department officials also feel that there was no reason for the strike.

"They wanted to go on strike and they have done it. Let them do whatever they want, I don't want to comment on this issue," said Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao.

The strike was called for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm. Most of the auto drivers, who didn't take part in the strike, did not want to loose their daily bread by staying at home.

"If I don't take my auto out, how will I feed my family? The strike before was a necessity since it was in favour of the rise in hike. But yesterday's strike didn't make any sense," said Anwar Hussain, a rickshaw driver.

Most of the auto drivers who were plying their autos yesterday were charging more from the commuters. They were charging Rs 20 to Rs 25 over the normal meter charge.

"I approached four rickshaws every one demanded Rs 20 over the meter. Finally I had to pay as there was no other alternative," said Payal K, a software professional.

Bandh!
Buses, shops, business establishments and commercial houses operated normally. However, working of banks was affected as employees stayed away to press for their demands. Schools and colleges were also functioning as usual, sources said.

However, few rickshaws remained off the roads as part of their dawn-to-dusk stir, demanding subsidised foodgrains and loans to buy four-stroke engine vehicles. Trade union activists held demonstrations in the city, denouncing the Centre for its alleged failure to curb price rise and unemployment.

1.2 lakh
The number of auto rickshaws in the city