Ahmedabad Rickshaw strike in Ahmedabad on Friday

Ahmedabad: More than 82,000 autorickshaws will go on strike on Friday to protest the detention of rickshaw drivers under section 188. The drivers are also demanding an autorickshaw stand in the city to park their vehicles.

The auto rickshaw drivers have been demanding rickshaw stands for around more than a year. They alleged that the government's inaction has increased their hardships.
"There is no place in the city where we can park our rickshaws.

We had presented our case before the state government as well as the traffic department but to no avail," said Imtiyaj Langha, president of Ahmedabad Auto Rickshaw Driver's Union.

He alleged that AMC collects Rs1,200 per autorickshaw as vehicle tax, but does not bother to provide any facility to the auto drivers. The police have also started a drive to detain rickshaw drivers, who wait for passengers at cross roads, under section 188.
"Around 100 drivers have been detained in the last four to five days.The driver has to remain in detention for 24 hours and is fined Rs50 by the court. This provision affects the daily earning of the drivers. We have made a representation to the collector and asked him to stop the detaining," said Langha.

The strike on July 31 is a symbolic one but we planto go on an indefinite strike from August 10 if ourdemands are not met, Langha said.

Source: Dnaindia