Ismail Ali, president of All Assam Cab Operators’ Association, is a worried man these days. His association members, obviously cab drivers as his association’s name suggests, are sitting idle at home with no idea when they would be able to resume their work.
Soulfully, Ali told G Plus, “We are facing a lot of difficulties and these are very tough times for us. For many drivers, our main source of income is gone and we have nowhere to go.”
The cab drivers of Guwahati, who were in a thriving or at least a paying profession until just a while back, are in a huge spot of bother. With the lockdown in place, they are now looking at an uncertain and bleak future while struggling to feed their families.
The story becomes even more worrisome considering the large number of people associated with this profession. There are around 5,000 cab drivers in Guwahati alone who are employed with the popular app-based cab services Ola and Uber.
The future, after the lockdown is eventually lifted, is what is bothering Ismail Ali even more. It is expected that even after the lockdown is lifted, social distancing will remain the norm and people would be avoiding public places and limiting their travels to the extent possible. In such a scenario, the cab operators are not likely to see a considerable spike in the number of customers after the lockdown is lifted.
Given such a scenario, the public transportation system holds a bleak future with the same holding true for auto drivers, e-rickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers.
Voicing this fear, Ali mentioned, “Even after the government lifts the lockdown, a lot of people would not prefer to travel too much at least for some time. This would again mean that our business will not take off immediately and we might see the implications for the rest of 2020.”
With life as we know it coming to an almost standstill in the midst of coronavirus pandemic and with the country-wide lockdown set to continue till at least May 3, the impact of this lockdown is set to bear down heavily on many sections of society.
Another cab driver based in Guwahati said that their business witnessed a dip since the end of last year when the city witnessed unrest related to the continued Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests.
Looking at their uncertain future, the cab operators have approached the state government with an appeal for help. They have submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) district and have demanded for some financial assistance from the government.
They have also requested that no interest should be taken on the EMI for loans for the next three months, in a bid to provide some financial relief to them in this time of crisis.
Further, fed up with the current state of affairs, the cab drivers of Assam told G Plus that if the state government does not extend any help to them after May 3, then they will be forced to go out of the state in search of livelihood.
Some of the worst affected with the coronavirus crisis include daily wage labourers, migrant workers and those who worked in menial jobs for their livelihood. It remains to be seen if the government will bring out any financial package for them to help them tide over this difficult time.