MARGAO: Konkan Railways has cancelled the tender it had floated to seek a service provider for operating a rent-a-bike service at railway stations in Goa due to opposition from stakeholders, said Baban Ghatge, Deputy General Manager of KRCL, on Wednesday. The decision was taken after Santosh Kumar Jha, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of KRCL, met with the Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant, on Monday.
According to the tender floated by KRCL, the rent-a-bike services were to be operated at seven railway stations – four in Goa and three in Karnataka – through a single contract for all seven stations.
However, this move faced significant opposition from local taxi and rickshaw drivers stationed at the Konkan Railway stations in Goa, as well as from Opposition MLAs. Their primary concern was the potential impact on their livelihoods due to the introduction of the rent-a-bike service.
In light of the concerns raised by these stakeholders, KRCL decided to cancel the tender, effectively putting the rent-a-bike service plan on hold for the time being.
“As I expected, the powerful voice of Goemkars prevails. When I came to know of Konkan Railways’ flagrant attempts to sneak into Goa’s tourism sector, marginalising Goemkars from their traditional occupations, I vehemently objected and opposed, while the Margao MLA kept a suspicious silence. Today, this move comes as a victory for our regionalistic aspirations, and as a warning that even tacit support of so-called people’s representatives to anti-Goan activities will never be tolerated by the people,” said Goa Forward Party (GFP) President and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, who had raised this issue.
