Asish Mehta
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 20: A growing number of auto-rickshaw drivers of the Pink Auto fleet – a pet project of the Commissionerate Police – are voicing their frustration with the initiative, going so far as to term the entire project a sham.
The drivers blame the Commissionerate Police’s “negligent” attitude towards the fleet and their grievances.
“The Pink Auto fleet is a sham. The police have never sought our feedback on the project nor have bothered to address our grievances,” an auto-rickshaw driver said preferring anonymity.
“We have spent at least Rs10,000 for arranging the documents needed for police registration. But now we regret joining the Pink Auto fleet as we don’t get enough passengers anymore,” the driver said.
Another grouse of the auto-rickshaw drivers under the Pink Auto fleet is that while they have nothing to gain by way of incentive, they are instead facing problems with other regular drivers who are not part of the fleet.
The drivers are allegedly being targeted by those from other auto-rickshaw associations, and are sometimes at the receiving end of harassment and abuse.
“As we’re not part of any auto-rickshaw association, we face trouble with other associations in the city. Their drivers usually do not allow us to pick up passengers from their areas, and whenever we do so they abuse us. Passengers don’t want to put up with such hassles and so they don’t board our autos anymore,” the driver said.
Another Pink Auto driver said around 202 drivers’ identity cards expired June 15, 2015, but police were hardly keen on renewing them. “Our identity cards were valid till June 15, 2015. After they expired, we informed the police but they didn’t tell us anything about how to renew them,” he said.
CP’s claims that it possesses all details on the drivers of Pink Autos have also been found to be untrue, when an auto-rickshaw driver said a driver from the fleet was not living in the city anymore, and his auto-rickshaw was being driven by one whose details were not with the police. “Such cases are not exceptions,” the driver said. Twin city police commissioner RP Sharma however reiterated that the Pink Auto concept was a success and was safe for women passengers. When asked if there are any plans on inducting women auto-rickshaw drivers into the fleet, Sharma said there are no such plans as the Pink Autos were not exclusively for women and were meant to give preference to women passengers over men.
The police commissioner also disagreed with the views of some experts who said that auto-rickshaws should be open from all sides with only the roof covered, saying the move would put women passengers at greater risk.
“The auto-rickshaws are already open from both sides, and making them transparent might encourage anti-social elements to pass lewd comments on women passengers,” Sharma said.The commissioner said the traffic wing of CP collects feedback from citizens on a regular basis to evaluate the project. Barring a few incidents, the overall performance of the Pink Auto drivers can be rated satisfactory, the commissioner said.
The strength of the Pink Auto fleet has gone up to 351 after a recent induction of more vehicles.
According to police, the drivers of the fleet, which was rolled out in June 2014, are hired after an examination by a trained psychologist.
