Patna autorickshaw drivers in distress

PATNA: The nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic has left the autorickshaw drivers in the lurch with no other means of livelihood. Like most daily wagers, they are also having a tough time in making ends meet.
Satyendra Lal, who used to earn Rs300-400 by ferrying people from Agamkuan to Patna Junction, said he was not able to buy even medicines for his father. “The lockdown has been extended till May 17 and we have still not received any financial help from the government. All my savings have exhausted now,” he said.
Lal Babu said he has no money to pay his house rent. “I am somehow managing to buy rice and pulses for my family with the little amount I had saved over the years. I am worried if the lockdown period is extended again,” he said.
Bihar State Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association members have already staged protests in the last few days to attract the government’s attention, but in vain. Naresh Kumar said: “We held several protests but no one came to out help. We are living in misery.”
The situation is even worse for women autorickshaw drivers. Rinki Devi said the state government and the Centre have left those working in unorganized sector to survive on their own. “I have not received a single penny from the government. I have children at home. They are struggling to get three-time meals,” she said.
Association’s general secretary Rajkumar Jha said more than 1,00,000 autorickshaw and e-rickshaw drivers in Patna district are in distress due to the lockdown. “Left with no work, they are sitting idle for the last six weeks. Those who were borrowing money from others have stopped getting any further help,” he said.
“The association has written several letters to the government, but hasn’t received any help until now. We want the authorities to give Rs10,000 and three-month ration to the drivers,” Jha said.