Soon, auto drivers to don blue aprons in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Soon, autorickshaw drivers in the state will have to sport blue aprons while on duty. The state transport department issued a notification on Tuesday making it mandatory for the drivers to wear the aprons over their clothes.
The notification stated that several meetings were organised with autorickshaw unions before the decision was taken. Although a date has not been specified in the notification, sources said that the rule will be implemented in the coming days.
Ashok Punjabi, of the Ahmedabad Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association, said: “We agreed over the apron decision. However, unions wanted aprons of two colours to distinguish drivers who own autorickshaws from other drivers.” Punjabi said that several unions had suggested white aprons for owners and blue or khakhi aprons for others.
Rajveer Upadhyay, an autorickshaw driver, who on July 6 made headlines for getting his daughter a ‘secular’ school-leaving certificate, said that he had moved court over the dress code for drivers.
“We have demanded a dress code for drivers of all permit-holding vehicles and not just for autorickshaw drivers,” Upadhyay said. “We have filed an application in the high court stating that a dress code for autorickshaw drivers alone will be a violation of their rights.”
Upadhyay, a leader of the Jagrut Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association, wants the dress code to cover radio cab, tempo, and chakkada drivers as well. Moreover, he said, the high court had directed the state government to fix the number of permissions to be given to new autorickshaws in Ahmedabad city, but the government has not done so yet.