Samant urges Maha CM to set up welfare board for autorickshaw and taxi drivers

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant on Thursday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to form a board for the welfare of autorickshaw and taxi drivers in the state on the lines of Tamil Nadu.In a letter to Shinde, Samant said the move will benefit licensed 8.32 lakh autorickhsaw and 90,000 taxi drivers and owners.He said Tamil Nadu has a welfare scheme for auto drivers and they have been covered under the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work Act, 1982.

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant on Thursday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to form a board for the welfare of autorickshaw and taxi drivers in the state on the lines of Tamil Nadu.

In a letter to Shinde, Samant said the move will benefit licensed 8.32 lakh autorickhsaw and 90,000 taxi drivers and owners.

He said Tamil Nadu has a welfare scheme for auto drivers and they have been covered under the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work) Act, 1982. ''The proposal to establish a board for the social security and welfare of the auto drivers has been pending since 2013. It is requested that a board for the auto and taxi drivers be formed on the lines of Tamil Nadu,'' Samant said. Samant, who is part of the rebel Sena MLAs group, was a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Notably, in his initial days, Shinde also drove an auto rickshaw to earn his livelihood.