NEW DELHI: With a fresh hike of Rs 2.5 in CNG prices, the members of auto and taxi drivers’ associations on Thursday warned authorities that they will strike from April 18 to press for their demand of subsidy on prices.
On April 11, hundreds of auto, taxi and cab drivers staged a protest at the Delhi secretariat, demanding subsidy on CNG prices. The protest was held under the aegis of the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh. General Secretary of Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, Rajendra Soni, said that their protests against the policies of Centre and Delhi government will continue and they will go on strike from April 18.
Speaking about how their business got impacted due to the sudden price rise in fuel, Soni said, ‘price of CNG is soaring every single day and we are demanding the government to provide us a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg.’ Soni alleged that in the last seven years, the Delhi government never called a meeting of Auto-Rickshaw association members.
“We’ve written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but received no response from his office. Who else are we supposed to reach out to with these problems? Neither the CM, nor any other leader from the government is ready to speak to us,” he said.
He said that if their protests escalate, ‘the governments will start playing blame game amongst each other.’ President of the Sarvodaya Drivers’ welfare association, Ravi Rathore said, “Constant price rise in CNG is burning holes in our pockets. We staged protests on April 8 and April 11, yet the government is mum and hasn’t called us for talks yet. We will definitely do ‘Chakka Jam’ on April 18.”
He said that even the common man will hit the streets if this issue remains the same.