Auto drivers tune in to virtual morchas, ask for help in crisis

█ ‘Baghtoy Rickshawala’ in the state!

Transporters across the state are coordinating under campaign launched by doctor, the son of an autowallah, and will bombard political leaders with comments about their plight during live sessions online; they say they need government funding to survive pandemic

Pune’s long history with strikes carried out by auto rickshaw drivers is part of the city’s lifeblood. For decades now, autowallahs have been taking to the streets here to rally for their ever-evolving demands — in fact, social activist Baba Adhav’s Rickshaw Panchayat was also born right in this city.


But today, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their professions the most in many years, health safety norms have not allowed these drivers to come together and place their situation in front of the authorities. But in a novel solution to this quandary, auto drivers are now coming together to carry out ‘virtual morchas’ on social media, so that they can put forward their demands in front of leaders of Maharashtra.

The brand new campaign, ‘Baghtoy Rickshawala’ (the rickshaw driver is watching), has already been launched on social media by a group of autowallahs from Pune, in a bid to attract the state government’s attention towards their issues that have arisen due to the lockdown. Interestingly, the campaign is being monitored and headed by a doctor, who is the son of a rickshaw driver.

Dr Keshav Kshirsagar is gathering various rickshawallahs from different parts of the state together on social media to bombard political leaders — including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and former CM Devendra Fadnavis, now opposition leader in the state — with problems being faced by auto drivers.

Speaking to Mirror, Dr Kshirsagar elaborated, “In the past, rickshaw drivers took to the roads to protest for their demands — today, even while they are going through the toughest phase in their lives, they are restricted from agitating. I thought that since the government is continuing to turn a blind eye to the plight of this sector, they can no longer keep quiet. To help them raise their voice, I thought of bringing them together in the virtual world.”

With almost all auto drivers possessing mobile phones equipped with internet connectivity, Dr Kshirsagar utilised technology to bring them together on social media. This, he believes, will pressure the state government and attract its attention towards their requests. “It has been seen historically that unless rickshaw drivers raise their voice, their demands are not met by the government. So, we have created this forum to bring rickshaw drivers across the state in unison. So far, we have succeeded in getting nearly 700 auto drivers to this forum,” narrated Dr Kshirsagar, who has also had a catchy logo designed for the campaign.

In the earlier phases of the lockdown, rickshaws were not allowed to ply. Now, although the government has given some relaxations to the rules, there is still ambiguity among auto drivers as to which areas they can ply in and which are prohibited. As a result, they constantly fear police action.

Speaking about their troubles, Riyaz Shaikh, a 32-year-old autowallah from Sahakarnagar, shared, “Before the pandemic, I earned Rs 800-1,000 a day. However, due to the lockdown, I could not take out my rickshaw at all for months. Just a couple of weeks ago, I resumed work due to the relaxations, but with no clarity from the government as to where we can ply, I have to target very limited areas. My daily earnings have now dipped to Rs 100-200.”

Through ‘Baghtoy Rickshawala’, he and many others hope to ask for monetary compensations for beleaguered auto drivers. Dr Kshirsagar explained, “Recently, the Delhi government took the decision to deposit Rs 5,000 into the accounts of the city’s auto drivers to deal with their financial crisis. Even the Andhra Pradesh government is helping its rickshaw drivers financially. However, we are seeing no such efforts from the Maharashtra government. So, will carry out virtual morchas on social media.”

The modus operandi is simple. “We have seen CM Thackeray and opposition leader Fadnavis do live interactions on social media to address people. That is the time we will target them. Whenever they come on to live sessions, we will send messages on our WhatsApp groups, asking every member to be online. During their session, all auto drivers will keep bombarding them with our issues through comments. Someday soon, they will notice that plenty of comments mentioning the plight of rickshaw drivers are being received and hopefully, they will act on it,” added the young leader.



Auto drivers feel strongly that this is the time the state government should come forward and help them monetarily as their earnings have gone down considerably. Ashok Kamble, another rickshaw driver from Kothrud, shared, “The government has announced relaxations in paying of loan instalments and rents, but a large section of the impoverished, like many auto drivers, cannot even afford food. We are getting some rations thanks to the largesse of activists, but if the government deposits some money into our accounts, we will not have to be dependent this way for survival.”

Mirror tried to contact state transport minister Anil Parab on the issue multiple times, but despite repeated attempts, he was not available for comment.