On May 19, the citizens of Ahmedabad faced problems as the rickshaw drivers went on a strike for a day. The local rickshaw drivers protested again the rising Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices.
Many of the citizens faced problems while travelling to their office as they could not get any medium to commute. The commuters continued to face the inconvenience throughout the day.
The one day strike was declared jointly by all the 12 auto associations/ unions of the city so as to demand 0% Value Added Tax on CNG. More than one lakh auto drivers remained off the roads so as to be a part of the protest.
Moreover, the associations have also demanded the state government to form a committee to control CNG prices. Ashok Punjabi, the convenor of Gujarat Auto Rickshaw Driver’s Action Committee, said, “This is just a one day token strike. We have given seven days time to the state government to bring down the CNG prices. If our demands are not met in seven days, then we will go on indefinite strike.” But the strike has caused a collective loss of Rs. 11.20 lakh in a single day. Apart from the autos even many of the drivers stopped a few autos that were ferrying passengers despite the strike.
