New amendments depress rickshaw drivers

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, OCtober 23: A new rule requires people who want to run auto rickshaw drivers to have a minimum educational qualification of Std VIII and to obtain a light motor vehicles (LMV) license. A recent amendment to this rule also requires people who want to operate auto rickshaws to obtain a passenger service vehicle badge (PSVB).

This has upset poorly educated rickshaw drivers in a big way because they need to obtain an auto rickshaw license plus a light motor vehicle license plus a PSVB without fail just to operate an auto rickshaw. The new rule removes auto rickshaw driving from the list of job opportunities for poor unemployed and uneducated young men, who could easily get loans and could work free from rules.

L. T. Suvarna, the DK district general secretary of the Federation of Karnataka Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union, said that around half the 12,000 auto drivers in Mangalore do not have the required minimum educational qualification. Flaying the new rule about obtaining LMV license even after getting a PSVB, he said that a state-wide protest against these amendments will be held soon. He also criticized rules that auto drivers need to obtain fitness certificates only from government doctors, and not from private medical practitioners.