Private transport operators in Karnataka Wednesday said many of the demands made by them do not find a mention in the ‘Proceedings on Demands Given by Protesters’ that was recently released by the state transport and road safety department.
Nataraj Sharma, president of the Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Association, said several of their demands like a ban on ‘illegal’ delivery services like Uncle Delivery and Porter, appointment of advocate Vikram Huilgol to fight the case against aggregator apps, action against Additional Commissioner (Transport) Hemanth Kumar, and the deadline for fulfilling the demands of the Federation, among others, have not been listed by the government.
Notably, the Federation representing 36 auto, taxi, and private bus unions withdrew the transport strike Monday after Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy assured it that most of its demands would be met.
However, Reddy declined to fulfill three key demands of the Federation, including bringing private buses under the Shakti scheme (free travel for women in buses), exemption of life tax for vehicles costing between Rs 10-15 lakh, and a monthly grant of Rs 10,000 for autorickshaw drivers in view of the purported losses incurred by them owing to the launch of the Shakti scheme.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Sharma said, “We want the transport minister to list all the demands that he had promised to fulfill during our protest at Freedom Park. There is still a lot of ambiguity between what the minister said at the protest and the ‘proceedings list’ released by the department. He specifically mentioned banning ‘illegally’ operating apps like Uncle Delivery and Porter. More importantly, the two-month deadline for fulfilling the demands has not been mentioned either.”
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He added that he would soon meet with the transport commissioner to discuss the issue.
In the document released by it, the transport department has sought a technical report from the e-governance department to develop the state’s own aggregator app. The department also stated that a discussion will be held with all stakeholders including transport officials, and aggregator companies to blacklist aggregator apps that are operating ‘illegally’.
Meanwhile, the department said it was trying to fulfill most other demands made by the Federation, such as housing for drivers, and setting up an Indira canteen at the Kempegowda International Airport for drivers, among others.
