Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 24: Police foiled massive protest march by the members of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi E-Rickshaw and E-Auto Union, who were moving towards Raj Bhawan for submitting a memorandum to the Lt Governor, here today.
Aggrieved over recent order by the Transport Commissioner fixing Rs 10 as E-Rickshaw charges for each kilometer, the Union Members were demanding revision of the fare.
Led by the Union president, Gourav Kapoor, the protesters assembled at Bikram Chowk and moved towards the Raj Bhawan in the form of a massive procession amidst raising of slogans and carrying placards. They wanted to submit a memorandum to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha seeking his intervention over their issues.
However, Police did not allow them to proceed further. After a high voltage drama there, during which the protesters attempted to dodge policemen, cops whisked away the Union president Gourav Kapoor besides dispersing the protesters.
Earlier, while addressing the protesters, Kapoor said that they would not accept fare of Rs 2.5 per kilometres, which was being tried to be forcefully implemented by the Transport Commissioner.
“According to this cost (Rs 2.50/-), we earn Rs 1,44,000/- per annum and the liability of E-Rickshaw is near about Rs 2 lacs per annum which is totally injustice,” he explained.
Gourav Kapoor said that they requested the Transport Department to settle this issue permanently after listening to them, but there was no positive response from the Department
The Union president also accused the administration of creating obstacles in Green Corridor Project, a dream initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the vision of “Viksit Bharat 2047”.
“These obstacles are leading to decline in enthusiasm and participation for first hand volunteers and E-rickshaw who were initially urged to contribute to this visionary project,” he said and sought intervention of the Raj Bhawan to ensure that the voice of the E-rickshaw, E-auto holders and the Union are hard and considered in the matter that directly effects them.
The protest march was joined by E-Rickshaw holders of Jammu and adjoining districts, including Sethi Verma, Jatinder Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Mudasir Ahmed Mir, Lucky Singh, Narinder Singh Bali, Sanju Bhau, Sunny Charak, Barun and others.
According to Gourav Kapoor, he was briefly detained at the office of SDPO Gandhi Nagar and after the intervention of SP South, Ajay Sharma, who talked to the Transport Commissioner; a meeting has been scheduled between the Union representatives and RTO Jammu on January 28 for resolving the issue.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
