With union ready to help, get cracking on illegal autos

The Mumbai automens union has said that its members are willing to come forward to help the government get rid of illegal autos

The Mumbai automen's union has said that its members are willing to come forward to help the government get rid of illegal autos. They claim that the illegal autos are spoiling the name of the auto drivers' fraternity and have offered 365 days of help to weed them out, a report said.

It is time for those in charge to get serious and cracking about illegal autos, as this is a perennial question that crops up every time one talks about sorting auto-rickshaw issues.

A drive to stop autos from refusing fare was not very successful because the automen's union claimed that those turning down commuters were not registered but illegal autos.

There is no way for a passenger to check if a driver is legal or illegal. Weeding out the illegal autos is necessary because then, action can be taken against the legitimate drives who err instead of the constant shifting of blame for everything on illegal autos. It may be right that they are to blame, but the only one suffering is the commuter.

If authorities are to take some help from registered automen, who claim they can help in pointing out the illegal auto drivers, they should be given some protection or be allowed to work anonymously.

Action against illegal auto drivers after the legal ones point them out may lead to a cycle of revenge, and those that aid in this operation may be in some danger.

That may not apply to everyone, but it is better to have a gameplan and team that can do this safely and effectively.

The fact that 365 days have been given as a timeframe is an indicator of how entrenched the illegal autos have become in the system. It is an indication to stop any kind of corruption or rot before it seeps in too deep and becomes immensely difficult to dislodge.

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