What they are angry about is the hiring of vehicles from Maharashtra for election duty and overlooking the local taxi operators. The questions that the taxi union pose are as how was the tender allotted to non-Goans when none from Goa taxi association was invited to bid? And, if they missed responding to the tender why was no taxi association approached? A meeting with the Transport Department officials over the issue has not elicited a positive response and they – the cabbies – allege that the officer asked them to leave his office.
There are two issues here. First would be the valid question that the cabbies ask is why were vehicles from outside the State preferred for the election process over local taxis? This definitely merits an answer. It is not as if hiring local vehicles will influence voters in any manner as it is the election office that is doing it and not the government per se. Surely in other States outstation vehicles are not hired for the election process. We have never heard of Goan taxis getting hired for election duties in Karnataka or Maharashtra. If they have been so hired, then perhaps there is a precedent.
The local taxi operators should, therefore, be given a proper hearing and a reasonable answer to their questions, as they certainly are justified in asking them. Besides, they have offered to work on lower per-day rates than that which, they say, is currently being paid to Maharashtra cabs. Another reason to hire the local taxis, besides of course the local drivers being familiar with the roads, directions and destinations in the State, which is most important.
The taxi operators have also brought up the issue of being deprived of earning their livelihood by the authorities having requisitioned vehicles from Maharashtra for the election purpose. Against the background of losses that they have suffered due to the pandemic, this here was an excellent opportunity for the taxi operators to recoup their losses or at least to reduce the financial loss of the past two years.
However, the threat by the taxi operators of blocking the outside registered vehicles is not a solution to the issue and should not be resorted to, besides these cabs would be on election duty and cannot be stopped from performing their duties. It is the authorities who hired the vehicles who should be answering the taxi operators. The Maharashtra taxi operators will be doing what they have been contracted to do. It is a competitive business and they responded to the tender and got hired. It is what should have also been done by the Goa taxi operators. They did not respond to the tender advertisement, and so should not target those that did. If anybody should be replying to the Goa taxi operators on the matter, it is those who took the decision.
The above is the other issue – of the Goan taxi operators or unions failing to respond to the tender. In a business one cannot be always seeking that the government come to the rescue, but has to be one step ahead of the competition. The taxi operators can now only hope that the authorities work out a system and give them some work. It is a four week period and then there is the counting, that will take place just over three weeks later. So there will be opportunities to provide the local taxi operators with business. There is nothing to be achieved by not listening to the cabbies. It is more reasonable to talk and meet them halfway.
