With Rs. 2.5 hike in fuel prices, the members of the auto and cab drivers’ association in Delhi have decided to go on a strike for two days from today onwards. They’re demanding a hike in fare rates and a cut in CNG prices. On Thursday, the Auto and Taxi Association of Delhi, a unit of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, announced a two days strike in Delhi on April 18 and 19. They have claimed that a large number of autos and cabs will not be in service on these two days in Delhi.
Moreover, hundreds of cab, auto, and taxi drivers staged a protest in the Delhi secretariat recently in demand of subsidy on CNG prices. General secretary of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, Rajendra Soni said, “We cannot keep bearing losses every day as the CNG prices are galloping. This is a symbolic protest to oppose the price hike.”
He further added that the ‘unprecedented’ hike in rates in CNG has taken a toll on auto and cab drivers. “We know that the Delhi government is forming some committee but we need solutions to our problems which are not in sight. We are demanding that the government (Centre and Delhi) provide ₹35 per kg subsidy on CNG prices,” Now the union has refused to call off the strike in spite of an announcement by the Delhi Government to form a panel to consider the matter in a polite manner.
Currently, the CNG in the national capital Delhi costs Rs. 71.61 per kg up from Rs. 69.11 kg as per information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL). In the last one year, the prices have increased by Rs. 28.21 per kg or by 60 per cent. There is no doubt that the commuters in Delhi will likely face difficulty these two days commuting across the national capital.
