Imphal, October 17: To the thousands or hundreds of rickshaw pullers who eke out a living by ferrying passengers, come rain or sun, their struggle is not only to earn a meal for a day for themselves and their dependents but also about the dignity of their profession.

Towards this end the All Manipur Rickshaw Drivers' and Pullers' Welfare Association has started taking up steps to let rickshaw drivers lead a dignified life.

At the moment there about 30,000 people engaged in the profession of rickshaw driving in Imphal area alone.

Amongst them, there are a number of pullers who have finished their graduation and Masters and lack of employment opportunities have driven them to take up this profession, said the PRO of the Association, Th Basanta, while chatting with The Sangai Express.

Interestingly, Basanta disclosed that some Govt employees and students have also taken up this vocation to augment their family income.

Most of them cover their faces while going about their work and they do not possess driving license.

Those without driving licenses are allowed to ply their trade after paying a certain sum of money to the officials concerned, he said and added this ought to be stopped.

Basanta further said that drug addicts also known to sometimes drive rickshaws for their daily fix and many petty thieves have also started plying rickshaws.

This has tarnished the image of the profession no end, he added.

It will be very positive if the public can be made to know whether the rickshaw they have hired is being driven by a true professional or not, said the PRO further.

Till date the Association has received about 300 complaints from the public that so and so rickshaw has vanished with their goods.

The Association has been able to trace the missing goods in some cases but a lot depends on timely intimation of the complaints, said Basanta.

The 52 parking lot given to rickshaw drivers in Imphal East and West are now under the jurisdiction of the Association, he informed.

Basanta said that procuring a license from the Imphal Municipal Council is a cumbersome task and ad-ded for some IMC officials no issuing the licence means they can earn some money on the sly from the drivers without licence.

The process of issuing the licence needs to be streamlined, he said adding that if licences are issued properly, it will augment the income of the IMC instead of lining thew pockets of some unscrupulous officials.

At the moment the number of rickshaws registered with the IMC is only 6600, he said and added that on the other hand the actual number of rickshaws on the road far exceeds this number.

Comment