Disruption of daily life

The all-India transport strike this Wednesday and Thursday will force locals to find alternate means of transport, since the autorickshaws, as well as the BMTC and the KSRTC buses, will not be plying.

The protest is against the rising prices of essential commodities, including petrol and diesel, and on a more local level, the alleged harassment by the City’s traffic police. Metrolife speaks to officials, commuters and others who will be impacted by this strike.
M Manjunath, president, Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers’ Union, shares his side of the problem.

“There are eight unions in the City that are participating in the strike — including ours. We want the arrest of the traffic police, who do nothing but keep making entries against our drivers in their phones for minor issues like flouting the no-parking rule, jumping signals and so on. Our job is to provide the facility to the commuters, but they keep taking photographs and fining the drivers — sometimes, even Rs 2,000 to 3,000 per month.

We are already paying more money than before on ration, gas, electricity and other basic necessities — how can we afford to pay such exorbitant fines too?” he questions.
A petition by the Autorickshaw Drivers’ Organizations United Struggle Committee, which has called for the strike, includes demands such as getting houses constructed through BDA or Housing Board for the auto drivers, paying them pension after the age of 60, issuing ‘Vajapayee Arogyashree Scheme’ cards to them and abolishing the compulsory certificate to show 8th-standard qualification for issuing licences, among others.
But as is the case with any strike, commuters are skeptical as to how effective his one will be.

“Such strikes happen too frequently without any quantifiable change. All they do is disrupt normalcy and force commuters, who don’t own bikes or cars, to pay extra to autos and cabs that are willing to take us,” shares an annoyed Kritika, a professional.

Unions belonging to the BMTC and KSRTC will also be participating. But according to Anjum Parvez, managing director of the  BMTC, their participation is not final.

 “It purely depends on whether the drivers and conductors show up at the depot. The buses will be kept ready and if they come, they will be operational. If not, the employees will lose their pay for that day,” informs Anjum. 

To make life a little easier, a cab service, Olacabs, has offered to provide cabs that will run at auto fares on the two days. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of the company, says, “As a company, we want to ensure that ground transportation is comfortable and convenient for all commuters. We are well aware that strikes can cause substantial disruption for those who travel regularly by autos or buses and can impact women, children and senior citizens too.

Keeping this in mind, we’re running all our cabs at the auto fares on these two days because we want to ensure that regular life in the City is not hampered.”
One can book the cabs by calling 33553355.

Understandably, the news of the strike has caused panic among the schools and colleges of the City, with most awaiting the confirmation to take a decision.

Not surprisingly, arrangements to transport students are not even being considered — it is only a question of whether or not to keep the institute open.

“We haven’t decided yet and will wait to hear the official news about the strike’s confirmation on Tuesday. If schools are supposed to be closed, we will comply with it,” notes Lakshmi Rao, principal, National Public School, Koramangala.