Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar, June 20(KINS): All Kashmir Transporters Welfare Association, which is an amalgam of mini-bus and other public transport vehicle drivers, Saturday appealed to the government to allow them to resume bus as well as mini-bus services.
They said that the authorities continue to ignore the poor lot and give preference to SRTC buses and other four-wheelers.
Matt Shabir Ahmed president of the Association said that the government has adopted a step-motherly treatment for the transporters. “We wonder if SRTC buses, Sumos and Traveras, three wheelers are allowed to ply, why public transport which includes 5000 fleet of vehicles are not allowed to resume the services,” Ahmed told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
“Don’t we have families? The fact of the matter is that we are on the verge of starvation since August 5 last year. Transporters have borne the brunt of last year’s spontaneous shutdown triggered by the roll back of Article 370 and now due to the lockdown implemented because of Covid-19 pandemic,” Ahmed said.
He said the majority of the vehicle drivers are on the verge of collapse as their yearly insurance is over and they aren’t able to pay the loan installments on time.
“I wonder why the government is selective. If District Administration can hold meetings with the traders and other groups, why can not there be a meeting with us too,” he said, adding that “let government come up with SoPs and dos and do-nots, we will follow.”
If things don’t work properly and the government continues to ignore the transporters, time is not far, when drivers would take extreme steps along with their family members. “At that stage, we shouldn’t be blamed. The situation with us is totally grim and government is giving deaf ears to our repeated pleas,” the president of the association said, and appealed the divisional commissioner Kashmir P K Pole, deputy commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary and other concerned to look into the genuine issues of transporter’s forthwith so that they resume their services and feed families properly.(KINS)
