Hyderabad, July 22: While autorickshaw unions have been crying themselves hoarse over demands to increase the minimum tariff of the meters from the present stipulated price of Rs 12, members of the Progressive Auto and Motor Workers Union announced at a dharna on Tuesday that they would be pushing for workers’ benefits over quickprofit measures.
The organisation, affiliated with the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) noted at the venue at Indira Park that benefits like the introduction of ESI and Provident Fund should take precedence over other issues. Union president A Narendar said that “apart from the issue of benefits, the system of electronic challans should be disposed with.” The dharna, which saw participation from around 200 auto drivers across the city presented a demand for Rs 1,000 crore to be allocated in the budget for the benefit of autorickshaw and vehicle drivers and owners.
Alleging that there is rampant corruption within the Road Transport Authorities, the members also made a demand to include eight school children per auto, over the existing number of six. “Along with this, we also appeal to the Union government to lower and control rising fuel prices
, which affects auto drivers operating both diesel and petrol vehicles,” Narendar added.
After a bout of regulation sloganeering which followed the presentation of demands, members of the protest gathering proceeded to the Secretariat, where memorandums were submitted to the Home, Finance, Transport and Labour ministries.
–Agencies–