Auto Rickshaw Union holds protest

Members of the Chandigarh Auto Rickshaw Union held a protest at the Circus Ground in Sector 17 on Monday, demanding notification of a hike in auto-rickshaw fares in view of the rising fuel prices in the country.

Around 50 members of the union attended the protest which began at 9 am. During the three-hour protest, the members discussed various problems being faced by them and a memorandum of demands to be presented to the UT Administrator Shivraj Patil was prepared.

"We are the ones who are the worst-affected due to the frequent increase in the prices of diesel and LPG. Also, as the commuters are not ready to pay extra we cannot pass the burden of the hike on them and so we suffer the most. We have organised this protest to bring to light the problems we are facing and seek an appropriate solution," said Harcharan Singh Sawhney, president of the union.

Speaking about their major demands, Sawhney said, "Either we should be allowed to increase our fare to Rs 20 per km for the first two kms and subsequently charge Rs 15 per km or the capacity of passengers be increased from three to five."

Following the protest, the memorandum was submitted at Raj Bhawan. "Since the Administrator was not available we submitted our memorandum in the office and we have been assured that the matter will be resolved soon," Sawhney added.

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