Bhubaneswar: Around 10,000 auto-rickshaws remained off-road on Thursday in response to a strike called by the Smart City Online Auto Association to protest the humiliation of its members by the agitating bus drivers on Wednesday.
It is worth mentioning here that the Driver Ekata Mahamancha, an organisation of various drivers’ bodies in Odisha, went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday, but the auto-rickshaw drivers in Bhubaneswar and other places in the state did not participate in the drivers’ strike. As a result, some auto-rickshaw drivers were allegedly humiliated and heckled by the bus drivers.
In some places, the picketing bus drivers allegedly made the auto-rickshaw drivers hold placards with derogatory statements written on them. The auto-rickshaw drivers alleged that they were also garlanded and insulted.
However, auto-rickshaws from the different stands in the capital city plied their vehicles today.
Notably, five lakh drivers across Odisha launched an indefinite strike today to press for several demands that include social security including pension, insurance, and death benefits.
