Team Herald
PERNEM/PANJIM: Bowing to the demands of a section of cabbies, the State government on Monday agreed to provide a counter for yellow and black taxis at the Manohar international Airport at Mopa, Pernem, which is scheduled to commence operations from Thursday.
This assurance was made by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to a delegation of taxi operators from Pernem constituency. The delegation was headed by Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar. The Chief Minister also told them to give details of number of taxis which will operate at the new airport by Tuesday.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of taximen from Pernem taluka including Mandrem constituency took to the streets and protested demanding a counter for yellow and black taxis at new Mopa airport. They threatened to protest outside the Mopa airport gate till they were allotted a counter.
The taximen under the banner of ‘Together for Mopa’ including the three taxi associations from Mopa villages and hundreds others gathered at Nagzar to draw the attention of the government over their long pending demand of a counter for yellow and black taxis as per the law.
Social activists from different parts of the State namely Xencor Polji, Manoj Parab, Tulshi Phadte, Sudip Tamankar, Adv Prasad Shahapurkar, Jitendra Gaonkar and others extended their support to the taximen.
The protestors said that proper planning and transport facility at the Mopa airport should have been provided a year ago and locals should have been taken into confidence. Keeping operation of taxis and other mode of transportation at the Mopa airport as suspense, the government is forcing the taxi app on them, they charged, claiming that counter for yellow and black taxis was their right as per the Motor Vehicle Act.
The protesters further pointed that the app is liable to people, who already have the taxis, but people here have only booked for taxi and how they are going to join the app?
The government is talking about schemes for welfare of taximen, but in 2012 there was old replacement scheme where if anyone had a taxi he would get Rs 80,000 as support price to replace the taxi. But the scheme stopped abruptly as the government had no funds. Similarly, there was another scheme where a taximan was getting Rs 15,000 but it stopped. The government forced them to fit digital meters, but till date they have not received money of meters, the protestors claimed.
“Our land was bought for peanuts and now the price of land is increased to almost 75 per cent, but we don’t have any land left. Not all the affected people have received the compensation. Our forests and livelihood are destroyed. Operating independent taxis is one of the last options for the youth to get self-employed and that can only happen once the yellow and black taxi counter is notified at the new airport,” another local said.
Uday Mandrekar, a social worker said, “The demand for yellow and black taxi counter is genuine because there is a provision for the same in the Motor Vehicle Act. Nobody is asking for something illegal.”
“Taxi App is ‘Jumla’ because if they had already planned for app then why did they get digital meters?” All Goa Taxi Union president Chetan Kamat questioned.
Mandrem Taxi Association president Sanjay Kole clarified that none of the taximen from Mandrem constituency have joined the app. From day one, we are against the app and never will join it.
Meanwhile, youth from affected villages who were working at the new airport under a company also participated in the protest. They complained that their services have been terminated since it was just three years contract which ended on December 31, 2022 and now they are jobless.
Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar met the protestors and assured them his support and that he would get the issue resolved. However protestors demanded a written assurance from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Later, a delegation of ‘Together for Mopa’ comprising Uday Mahale, Bhaskar Narulkar and Adv Jitendra Gaonkar along with the MLA met the chief minister on the issue.
