With a fresh hike of Rs 2.5 in CNG prices, the members of auto, taxi and cab drivers' associations on Thursday warned authorities that they will go on a strike from April 18 to press for their demand of subsidy on gas prices.
On April 11, hundreds of auto, taxi and cab drivers staged a protest at the Delhi secretariat, demanding subsidy on CNG prices. The protest was held under the aegis of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh.
General Secretary of Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, Rajendra Soni, said that their protests against the policies of the Centre and Delhi government will continue and they will go on strike from April 18. “Price of CNG is soaring every single day and we are demanding the government to provide us a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg,” he said.
Soni alleged that in the past seven years, the Delhi government never called a meeting of autorickshaw association members.
“We've written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but received no response from his office. Who else are we supposed to reach out to with these problems? Neither the chief minister, nor any other leader from the government is ready to speak to us,” he said.
He further said that if their protests escalate, “the governments will start playing blame game amongst each other.”
President of the Sarvodaya Drivers' welfare association, Ravi Rathore said, “Constant price rise in CNG is burning holes in our pockets. We staged protests on April 8 and April 11, yet the government is mum and hasn't called us for talks yet. We will definitely do 'Chakka Jam' on April 18.”
Rathore said that “even the common man will hit the streets if the government's approach towards this issue remains the same.”
The Auto and Taxi associations of Delhi had written a letter to Chief Minister Kejriwal on April 6 demanding that they be provided with a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg on CNG.
CNG price was hiked once again by Rs 2.5 per kg in the national capital on Thursday. The price of CNG is currently Rs 71.61 per kg in Delhi.
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