On a busy Thursday afternoon, the autorickshaw stand ahead of Ameerpet metro station appears emptier than usual. “Working women who used to take shared autos for their commute are now availing buses. The buses are State-run; we own these autos, have to pay EMIs, spend on maintenance and have not received any help from the government,” says Kalaghetty Ashok, an auto-driver and member of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)-led Auto Union. “We are not against the new Congress scheme but we are certain that it will bring down the number of women passengers,” says the union leader, adding that the Union plans to meet Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar to discuss their ordeal.
The State government on December 9 launched the Mahalakshmi scheme under which women and transgender persons can travel free of cost in Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) buses. According to TSRTC officials, an overall increase of about 25% of the passenger traffic on average has been witnessed since the introduction of the scheme, 22 lakh women have travelled in buses from December 9 to 11, and women’s share in ridership is expected to go from the present 40% to 55% by end of this year.
“Autos in rural areas will take a bigger hit than city-based autos, those carrying people from villages to mandal headquarters will now struggle to find women passengers as they will prefer to travel longer distances for free. In the city, working women will still avail autos because of the time constraint in rush office hours,” said R. Kishan Rao, an AITUC member.
“The newly elected government should address our long-standing issues, which the previous government has neglected. However, it is too early to assess how the Mahalakshmi scheme will impact the auto-rickshaws, we are hopeful that the government will roll out schemes for the auto drivers as well,” said Telangana Auto Drivers Union honorary State president G. Ravi Kumar.
Telangana Automotors Drivers Trade Union president Vemula Maraiah urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to provide a ‘livelihood allowance’ of ₹15,000 per month as he claimed that the Mahalakshmi scheme will bring down female passengers in autos by nearly 40%. Mr. Maraiah stated that the Congress government’s poll promises invisibilised the automobile sector. “Auto drivers are in distress, our demands are not being heard,” he said.
Elsewhere, dissatisfied auto drivers of the Konaraopet mandal in Rajanna Sircilla district and Kaddam mandal of Nirmal district staged protests claiming that the government scheme will deprive auto-drivers of rural areas from women passengers.
