MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant on Thursday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to form a board for the welfare of autorickshaw and taxi drivers in the state on the lines of Tamil Nadu.
In a letter to Shinde, Samant said the move will benefit licensed 8.32 lakh autorickshaw and 90,000 taxi drivers and owners.
He said Tamil Nadu has a welfare scheme for auto drivers and they have been covered under the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work) Act, 1982.
"The proposal to establish a board for the social security and welfare of the auto drivers has been pending since 2013.
It is requested that a board for the auto and taxi drivers be formed on the lines of Tamil Nadu," Samant said.
Samant, who is part of the rebel Sena MLAs group, was a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
Notably, in his initial days, Shinde also drove an auto-rickshaw to earn his livelihood.