The Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) latest salvo against the state government has seen the opposition party take the side of the local taxi drivers.
Taxi drivers whose permits expired during the Covid-19 pandemic have claimed that they have to pay Rs 10,000 to the police to obtain stickers to ply their vehicles.
In a letter to Transport Minister Dasakhiatbha Lamare today, TMC national spokesman Saket Gokhale said that this is illegal as it goes against central government rules.
According to Gokhale, a notification in September 2021 by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways directed all states to “extend the validity of all motor vehicle documents including taxi permits which were expiring during the Covid-19 pandemic period to 30th of September, 2021.”
Disregarding this notice means that the Meghalaya government is “causing great anxiety and loss to taxi drivers in the state,” he added. “Livelihood of taxi drivers has taken a major hit due to the Covid-19 lockdown as well as due to the fall in tourist numbers. While other states have duly followed the aforementioned orders of the Government of India, the state of Meghalaya seems to be delaying the resolution of this issue inexplicably and is keeping taxi drivers in a limbo.”
Gokhale also said that Lamare had personally assured taxi drivers that the issue of penalties on expired permits will be dealt with expeditiously but “that has clearly not happened.”
