Patna, March 11: “Dena parta hai.” That in a nutshell is the refrain of autorickshaw drivers of the city who say they are at the mercy of traffic constables who have to be paid off every day if they want to carry out their business smoothly.

Some autorickshaw drivers ply their vehicles without any valid papers or documents which makes them easy prey for the men in uniform. These unscrupulous auto-drivers thus queer the pitch for others of their tribe who have the valid papers but yet are forced to bribe the constables.

Like Sanjay Kumar, the 37-year-old father of four daughters who tried to commit self-immolation yesterday after his vehicle was confiscated by the police for “wrongful parking” outside the Patna railway junction. Sanjay, who was arrested for attempting suicide and spent the night at the Kotwali police station, was released today on bail.

Auto-drivers The Telegraph spoke to today said the “hafta” to be paid daily to the constables had gone up because of the approaching Holi. Every auto-driver, they said, has to pay Rs 5 twice daily — once to the constable on morning duty and again to the person on the evening beat. Owing to Holi, the amount has doubled. In addition, there are the “add-ons” which vary between Rs 50 and Rs 200, which can be levied at any given time.

Not that the auto-drivers are always on the right side of the law and don’t break rules; the men in uniform don’t actually try to put them on the right track. The constables will look the other way whenever the auto-drivers flout the law as long as the “second salary” keeps coming.

With the nexus running fine, auto-drivers like Sanjay, who has been plying his vehicle for the past 17 years, have to bear the brunt of the high-handedness of the police. Sanjay was hauled up because, according to the police, he didn’t have any papers, a charge denied by the driver.

The Telegraph report published on March 11, 2011

Asked by The Telegraph yesterday how the police had then allowed a driver to ply for 17 years without papers, the sergeant major (traffic), Suresh Kumar, had gone on the backfoot. “Yes he has been driving for a long time. But when he was asked for the papers, he could not produce them,” Suresh Kumar said.

In the Gandhi Maidan area, the legal auto stand has little space. As a result, the majority of vehicles are parked by the roadside near the Kargil Chowk or in front of Mona Cinema, waiting for passengers.

“What can we do? The auto stand can at best accommodate 60 vehicles. There are more than 1,300 vehicles plying to and from this area each day. Generally there are two traffic constables each in two shifts. The smaller petrol autos have to pay up Rs 5 each day to constables on both shifts. The rate for the larger diesel autos rests at Rs 10. With so many vehicles plying, you can imagine the daily income of the police. And this is just the fixed charge. There are miscellaneous charges also,” said Jagan Rai, a driver.

“Dena parta hai (We have to give it.) Otherwise our life will be made miserable by them,” said Raju, an autorickshaw driver plying at Gandhi Maidan, echoing the grievance of his fellow drivers.

At the Patna Junction, the scene is even more chaotic with more than 2,000 autorickshaws vying for space.

The drivers said festival seasons were worse. “It is Holi time now. So the rates will be doubled. Once Holi or for that matter any festival ends, it goes back to the same rate,” said auto-driver Suresh.

His friend and another driver Saajan said: “We don’t say we are always on the right track. But we have to make several trips to have a decent earning at the end of the day. As a result, if we have space, we tend to stop if a passenger waves us down. Then suddenly a constable comes and accuses us of wrong parking. And then he asks us for Rs 200. We somehow manage to give him at least Rs 50 and he lets us go. The same thing happens even if we park at the designated places,” he said.

A senior officer in the traffic police admitted there was a nexus. “There is corruption and we are accepting that. But also it must be accepted that the situation has improved. Senior police officers now patrol the areas where there are auto stands,” the officer said.

The Bihar State Auto Rickshaw Sangh said they had had enough of the police highhandedness. “We will demand a meeting on the issue with the traffic police boss at which the district magistrate should be present,” said secretary Rajkumar Jha.