Team Herald
PERNEM: Taxi operators from Pernem Taluka have expressed their grievances to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Mandrem MLA and GTDC Chairman Dayanand Sopte on the their recent opposition to GoaMiles.
They have requested Sawant and Sopte, to think about the livelihood of taxi operators with respect to their demand of banning the operations of GoaMiles.
The taxi operators had earlier held a meeting in Mandrem on Wednesday.
“We do not want GoaMiles in Goa and every Goan is opposing this app-based company or any such organisation in Goa. We request Sopte to think about our livelihood as we are completely dependent on taxi service as our source of income”.
They further informed, “We receive business hardly for five to six months in a year and even in that duration, people hire private buses and private taxis, which itself reduces our business. The money we earn in these 6 months is split further as we pay our vehicle installments, insurance and other household expenses around the year.”
They added that if GoaMiles starts functioning on a larger scale, then their livelihood will be affected.
“Running taxis is the only trade that is left in our hands. As farmers in other States are committing suicides, we request the government not to force the taxi operators to get to such as a situation. We want the government to think about us and our problems. We have voted for these leaders and since taxis are our livelihood, we don’t want our livelihood to get affected,” added the taxi operators.
