Hyderabad: The Telangana govt will soon set up a Welfare Board for auto workers and their families, deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said on Saturday, assuring auto drivers that their legitimate demands would be considered with a “humanitarian approach”.
He said nearly 20 lakh families were dependent on workers in the transport sector and the board would be aimed at addressing their welfare needs. The deputy CM said the govt had increased the auto fare from ₹11 to ₹14 per km after transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar studied the problems faced by auto drivers and brought them before the cabinet. Bhatti pointed out that the ₹11 per km fare had been fixed in 2014, when the Congress govt was in power in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that successive govts in Telangana failed to address the problems of auto drivers during the following 10 years, despite repeated agitations by the workers. As part of this approach, ₹200 crore has been allocated under the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam programme to help auto drivers replace diesel autos with battery-powered vehicles, he said. The govt is providing a subsidy of ₹1.5 lakh per auto, while solar, battery and CNG autos would be given greater priority in the future, he informed.
Bhatti said the proposal to establish a Welfare Board had already been discussed in the cabinet and the govt would soon complete the process of placing the matter before the legislature and allocating funds. The cabinet discussed the demand and subsequently issued a GO revising the fare, he said. “Govt orders alone are not the objective,” Bhatti said, stressing that the purpose of inviting auto union representatives to Praja Bhavan and sharing a meal with them was to hear their problems directly. He said the govt wanted every citizen to feel that it belonged to them and was working according to their needs.
Bhatti made the announcement at Praja Bhavan after hosting dinner for representatives of the Hyderabad city Auto Drivers’ Associations JAC. Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar and minister for SC development Adluri Laxman also attended the meeting.