No financial aid to drivers from PM Cares Fund: HC

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a PIL by Deepak Sane and others demanding financial assistance for the city’s drivers (bus, school bus, auto rickshaw) from the PM Cares Fund.
After hearing the parties involved in the case, the HC clarified that according to rules of PM Cares Fund, the trustees have the right to decide on providing financial help to the citizens.
While refusing to interfere in the issue, a division bench of justice Sunil Shukre and justice Nitin Suryawanshi dismissed the petition filed through counsel Arvind Waghmare.
In the PIL, it was stated that along with giving financial help to the drivers, the deadline for renewing vehicle documents of like insurance, PUC, road tax, permit and others should also be extended till December 2021. The court, however, observed that the government had already extended this period by a few months. “In such a situation, this prayer is immature, so such directives can’t be issued to the Centre right now,” the court noted.
According to the petitioner, on the directions of the central government, the movement of public vehicles stopped during the lockdown. It led to drivers of buses, school buses, taxis and autos becoming unemployed. In such difficult times, they should get help of Rs30,000 from PM Cares Fund, the petitioner had demanded.
Due to the rules of Covid distancing implemented in the country, it does not appear that the public transport service will be back on track soon. In such a situation, the drivers of public vehicles do not have many options for earning a livelihood.