ID cards for auto drivers: Project in limbo

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The project to provide ID cards for autorickshaw drivers plying in the city limits, an endeavour jointly undertaken by Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation, Traffic Police and various motor workers’ labour unions,  faces uncertainty following a dispute between the Traffic Police and labour unions.The dispute was over the right of distributing the application forms for the ID cards. A meeting was convened the other day to discuss the matter. But the authorities could not formulate a solution in the meeting, following which it became evident that the project, which was earlier scheduled to be implemented by mid-June, would be delayed further.The representatives of the labour unions had earlier demanded that they  be given the sole authority to distribute the application forms to eligible drivers. But the police also went ahead distributing the application forms simultaneously, which irked the trade union leaders.The labour union leaders allege that the police had engaged in the distribution of application forms only to include the latter’s favourites."Many officers in the Traffic Department own autorickshaws, which are driven by hired drivers. Most of these vehicles lack proper documents. It is to help those drivers that the police have now taken up the distribution,’’ said Pattom Sasidharan of the AITUC-led Motor Thozhilali Union.He said that the purpose of the project was to regulate the service of unauthorised autorickshaws within the city limits. Such drivers were the ones who mostly harassed the passengers. But with the police distributing the application forms to each and every driver, the entire project will turn futile, Sasidharan said.However, the City Police authorities dismissed the allegations levelled by the labour unions as baseless. According to them, the aim of the project was to make the existing autorickshaw drivers responsible and thereby improve their attitude towards the passengers, than to regulate their numbers."The problem with the trade unions is that they want the independent autorickshaw drivers, who are not members of any of the unions, to be out of the project,’’ said City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham.The Mayor K Chandrika has convened another meeting of the Traffic Police and labour unions on June 10 in a bid to resolve the issue.