Over the next few days, Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi is expected to receive hundreds of letters from anxious autorickshaw and taxi drivers requesting that he transfer ₹5,000 into their accounts. Lack of communication on the part of the government and rumours on social media resulted in chaos on Friday as drivers stood in long queues outside post offices to send letters to the Deputy CM.
The State government had on May 6 announced one-time financial compensation to people from various sectors. Though the guidelines stated that drivers could apply online on the ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal and that the money would be transferred into their accounts, the infrastructure to facilitate the transfer was not ready on Thursday.
Based on some messages on social media, drives started gathering at post offices armed with letters in which they had included their personal details, such as bank account numbers, address, DL. However, none of these messages on social media were from the government.
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Manjunatha, a driver, said, “For close to two months, I could not earn even a single rupee. After a long delay, the government announced that it will provide ₹5,000. On Thursday, I came across a forward on WhatsApp stating that we should send a letter to the transport minister furnishing details. So I sent a letter, but I don’t know when I will receive the money.”
The effort that Mr. Manjunatha and his colleagues put in to send their letters was futile.
Anand N.R., a taxi driver, said that the government should have come out with more detailed information. “Even I went to the post office to check why drivers were sending letters to the minister and whether applications were being handed out.”
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Eventually, the transport department sent out a release stating that the process to facilitate online applications on ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal is not ready yet. “The money will be transferred to bank accounts of all eligible drivers who apply online. Hence, there is no need to panic,” stated the release.
Transport Commissioner N. Shivkumar told the media that the portal will be ready within three days. Drivers can also visit Jana Seva Kendra, Karnataka One or Bengaluru One offices to apply online. He maintained that letters sent by drivers will not be considered as valid documents.
The government’s decision to offer compensation is likely to benefit 7.75 lakh drivers across the State. While drivers welcomed the compensation, they said that ₹5,000 represented just a fraction of the losses they have incurred since the start of the lockdown. They are demanding other relief measures, such as waiver of road tax for the year.
Commenting on the day’s events, Somashekar of Namma Chalakara Trade Union said that some people were misleading drivers on social media. “We are trying to educate drivers. We have sent out messages on social media stating that sending physical letters will not help them get the compensation, and have urged them to wait till the portal of the transport department is ready.”