Bhubaneswar, Feb. 26: Autorickshaws across the state will go off the roads on February 28 with all the all autorickshaw associations calling a day’s strike demanding social security, health insurance and several other facilities for them.

Around 17,000 autorickshaws in the city will take part in the protest under the banner of All Odisha Auto Chalak Mahasangha. Sources said more than one lakh people directly or indirectly depended on autorickshaws for their livelihood.

“We want autorickshaw drivers to be provided with social security and health insurance and that they should be brought under the government’s pension scheme. Since neither the Centre nor the state government has made any plans for them, we are going on strike,” said Padman Kumar Samal, general secretary of the Mahasangha, adding that all the autorickshaw associations in the state have assured to take part in the protest.

The protesters said they had organised such rallies in the past but the government did not take any step to address their problems.

The drivers said that in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, there were some provisions against the autorickshaw drivers. Earlier, autorickshaw drivers were required to obtain a light motor vehicle licence and then get a transport licence after a year. However, the new rules say that they have to get an auto cab license to drive an autorickshaw. “If we do not follow it, we will not get insurance,” said Arjun Bisoyi, an autorickshaw driver.

Samal said since the licences were granted for a particular period, the autorickshaw drivers wanted the authorities to start an insurance policy which will help these drivers. Besides, the authorities charge road tax for 15 years at the time of registration. But the vehicle may not run for 15 years. The government must look into these things,” he said.

The autorickshaw drivers said the government had not created infrastructures such as parking lots and bays for them. Whenever they park their vehicles on the roadside to pick up or drop passengers, they are harassed by the police.

“We want the government to decide a standard auto fare like other states. Though the government had earlier decided on the rates, they have not been updated,” said president of the Mahasangh Subash Singh.

The government had recently planned to install speed governors in autorickshaws, which, they believed, were responsible for most of the accidents. However, the statistics provided by the road transport authorities said only five per cent of road accidents involved light vehicles including autorickshaws.

“We will intensify our protest in the future if the government does not listen to us,” said an association member.

Chart

Autorickshaws in Bhubaneswar: 21,000 as per RTO report

Sources said that around 17,000 are plying on the roads.

In the state number of auto-rickshaws are nearly one lakhs

More than one lakhs auto-rickshaw drivers are there in the state.