Cabbies launch ‘selfie with empty vessels’ protest in Karnataka

Mrinalini Bhat | TNN | Updated: Apr 27, 2020, 06:39 IST

Cab drivers have launched a massive protest on social media because of the hardships they are facing due to the lengthy lockdown.

Cab drivers have launched a massive protest on social media because of the hardships they are facing due to th...Read More

BENGALURU: Cab drivers have launched a massive protest on social media against what they call “indifference” of central and state governments to the hardships they are facing due to the lengthy lockdown.
As part of their ‘Selfie With Empty Vessels Abhiyana’ protest, cabbies from across the country, under the aegis ‘Coalition of Drivers against State and Central Governments’, on Sunday began posting selfies with an empty vessel in hand and a black cloth tied around their foreheads on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
Gandasi Sadananda Swamy, president of the coalition, said the empty vessel symbolises the rough times cabbies are going through. They do not even have food, he said.
“I alone have received over 15,000 pictures so far, including of a woman who drives a pink cab,” Swamy said. “The government does not understand that most drivers are daily wage workers. No work for over two months means they cannot feed their families.”
He said Andhra Pradesh and Delhi governments are paying drivers Rs 10,000 and urged others to follow suit. “They need to understand that even if the lockdown is lifted, drivers will not have money to pay taxes or EMIs,” said Swamy.
A cabbie said, “The government collects taxes from drivers, but has no money to help them in times of distress. People are distributing rations, but the government must realise cash is also necessary.”