Alleging that the State government was forcing taxi drivers to hit the streets in protest, taxi operators here on Sunday announced their decision to hold another protest meet in the city on August 28.
Nawal Kishor Shrivastav, general secretary of the Kolkata Taxi Operator’s Union, affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said he had waited for a month for State Transport Minister Madan Mitra to respond to his letter before he held a protest meeting earlier in the month, which led to an unannounced taxi strike.
A total of 22 taxi drivers were arrested that day for the sudden strike, which was strongly condemned by drivers and unions. Although the arrested drivers were granted bail on August 12, unions threatened to move the High Court if the charges against drivers were not cancelled.
“We will be sending a fresh letter to Mr. Mitra tomorrow [Monday] and will take out a protest march from Raja Subodh Mallick Square on August 28 based on his response,” Mr. Shrivastav said. The letter listed 11 demands of taxi drivers, including toilets for them at major junctions and train stations.
Anadi Sahoo, secretary, Centre for Indian Trade Unions — which has been jointly supporting the taxi drivers’ protests along with the AITUC — said union leaders would be meeting Mr. Mitra on August 28 after the rally.
Trade unions supporting taxi drivers had been demanding taxi stands, claiming that drivers had to pay parking fees to park their vehicles at parking lots.
Mr. Mitra had recently enforced a fine of Rs. 3,000, up from Rs. 100, on drivers refusing passengers. Taxi drivers, however, have claimed that they were forced to cough up Rs. 3,000 even for missing signals.
“Drivers barely make about Rs. 300 a day. How can they pay Rs. 3,000 as penalty for false cases made up by the traffic police,” Kolkata Taxi Operators union president Ekram Khan said and urged the police to stop harassing drivers.
