Detailed Report To Goverment For Autorickshaw Fare
Though not at the desired pace, efforts to break the deadlock over the autorickshaw meter fare in Coimbatore are moving in the right direction, say official sources. After many rounds of talks with drivers’ unions, consumer welfare organisations and the representatives of the public, a committee formed here to arrive at a viable fare for the drivers and passengers will submit an elaborate report on the situation here to the State Government.
The fixing of the fare is, ultimately, the decision of the Government, says District Revenue Officer S. Prabhakaran. He heads the committee of officials and transportation experts, formed to arrive at a viable fare. It was constituted after an autorickshaw driver set himself ablaze in January-end this year to protest against the Rs.14 minimum fare announced by the State Government early that month. At the peak of the protests, the Federation of Coimbatore District Autorickshaw Unions rejected the Government-fixed fare by claiming that it was inadequate to meet the vehicle maintenance and fuel costs.
The process of assessing the requirements in terms of the costs in Coimbatore was taken up soon after the self-immolation by the driver. Over the next few months, the committee called the representatives of the unions and the public for separate meetings and placed each section’s demands before the other, so that a fare viable for both sides could be arrived at. It has taken more than eight months for the district administration and transport officials to reach the stage of submitting a report. To questions on the delay, officials have been pointing out that the autorickshaw fare has always been a tricky issue in Coimbatore.
And, this had been pushed to a more delicate position because of the self-immolation by the driver and the resultant protests by the unions. In the light of these happenings, rushing into a decision may have proved counter-productive. The situation now is that the unions are not willing to budge from their stand that the minimum fare must be fixed at Rs.20 for the first one-and-a-half km. In addition to this, it should be Rs.10 for every subsequent km. The Government had fixed Rs.14 for the first two km. The unions here demand that the first stage must be cut by half-a-km to make the fare viable for the drivers.
“The public agree to Rs.20, but oppose the Rs.10 a km rate,” says Mr. Prabhakaran. So, some moderate rates have been worked out and these will be forwarded to the Government. The committee had already sent a report to the Government through the District Collector and Regional Transport Authority. The Government had found the report too concise to provide a detailed picture. It had then asked the administration here to prepare a more detailed report. The committee is preparing the report and it is likely to be submitted to the Government in a week, says Mr. Prabhakaran.
