VASCO: Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal promised four guarantees to rickshaw and taxi operators, and said the party is set to challenge the High Court’s order on taxi meters in the Supreme Court.
During his two-day visit, Kejriwal interacted with taxi operators and promised four guarantees – hike in taxi and rickshaw fares, faceless RTO services, formation of corporation comprising two officers and taxi/auto operators and in the case of accident the government will bear the medical expenses.
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Kejriwal attacked local politicians for their remarks about taxi operators being mafias.
Addressing the taxi operators in Dabolim on Wednesday he said, “Taxi operators are not mafias; politicians are. On the road contracts those who earn Rs 100 crore, are mafias. Those involved in ventilator scams during Covid times, are mafias. Do the taxi operators have big houses or big vehicles? The politicians have them all. Thus, politicians are real mafias.”
He added, “All the taxi drivers want to earn money honestly, but the government has made such a system for them, due to which they are forced to overcharge. The kind of laws the government had framed for the operators has created more difficulties for them. They have been paying policeman and to the Transport Department. This leads them to overcharge. If one changes the system then such type of incidents won’t occur.”
“Therefore, I am here to announce four guarantees, which will benefit the operators. AAP will form a corporation comprising two officers and taxi/auto operators, where they will decide about the app, fares and all other things,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal acknowledged the Delhi taxi and rickshaw operators’ role in AAP’s electoral success. He said, “Today no one calls them mafia. The laws which had become a challenge for them have been changed. The fare has been increased. All the work is done online for them. If they have any problem then a separate telephone number has been issued to talk about it. During the first and second wave of Covid they were in huge loss as their business was stopped, then five thousand rupees were put in the account of each one.”
He added, “I came here as your young brother. How the Delhi taxi and auto operators chose their government, now is the time to choose your government. I urge the taxi operators to give AAP one chance. Whoever passenger takes your service, ask them to vote for AAP. Ask your family to influence two other families to vote for AAP. In Goa, we have 25,000 taxi operators, this is a huge number. If you all unite then the government will be made of taxi drivers.”
Kejriwal also took a jibe at Goa CM Dr Pramod Sawant stating that every time he visits Goa and makes an announcement, the following day Sawant also makes an announcement.
