Auto NGO will not help Kejriwal

The NGO Nyaybhoomi, which had organised Delhi’s auto-rickshaw drivers to support Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, will desist from helping it in the next elections.

“Kejriwal claimed that he introduced 5,500 new permits for the Delhi-NCR region. This is not the case, since not even one request for these permits has been entertained till now,” said Rakesh Agarwal, secretary, Nyaybhoomi. Agarwal alleged that Kejriwal’s claim of issuing 15,000 new permits for drivers from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was misleading. “The Sheila Dikshit government had introduced these permits in a notification dated 23 May 2013. Kejriwal reissued the same notification and simply took credit for the same,” said Agarwal.

Agarwal also claimed that the waiting charges in the meter reading were already being displayed since before the Assembly elections in December 2013. Delhi, which has 80,000 auto rickshaws, has only 50 official auto stands to accommodate these vehicles. “He promised to construct several new stands, but did nothing about it. The transport minister talked about some 550 new stands but they were already constructed in 2009,” Agarwal said.

Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh president Rajinder Soni, concurred with Agarwal. “Kejriwal made promises but never acted on them or gave anything in writing. Now when the government is no longer functioning, the auto drivers are left high and dry,” he said. Soni also said that the Kejriwal government had promised to install GPS units in auto rickshaws for approximately Rs 3,000, but this didn’t materialise either.

A section of auto drivers too expressed their dissatisfaction with Kejriwal. “We still don’t have the permit to drive outside Delhi. Worse, they did not even consider my application,” said Neeraj Kumar, an auto driver in Anand Vihar.