Aam Aadmi Party : Policy paralysis in central government responsible for ban on e-rickshaws

Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal issued the following statement today (September 16, Tuesday) :
The plight of e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi today reflects policy paralysis in the central government. Nearly two lakh e-rickshaws ply in the city and poor families of these drivers are dependant on these rickshaws for their livelihood.
E-rickshaws are used by passengers for short distances, particularly for reaching metro stations and are environment friendly last mile connectivity vehicles. It is extremely shocking that first the UPA’s central government and now the NDA government, both, have miserably failed in addressing the concerns raised by the Delhi High Court since February this year.
As a result, plying of e-rickshaws was declared illegal the High Court in August and due to lack of clear guidelines by the government, the ban is still continuing.
Policy paralysis had become synonymous with the previous UPA government, but the example of e-rickshaws shows it is very continuing in the current NDA government too.
The court merely wanted guidelines to ensure that e-rickshaws are regulated and ply legally on Delhi roads, but it is shocking that since seven months the union surface transport ministry has treated this issue in a highly casual manner.
I met the union surface transport minister Mr Nitin Gadkari along with a delegation of e-rickshaw drivers today, and reminded him about the promises he had made on June 17, when he had addressed a rally of e-rickshaw drivers at the Ramlila Ground.
Among Mr Gadkari’s main promises were : e-rickshaws having motors upto 650 watts will be considered as non-motorised vehicles (currently only those with 250 watt motors fall in this category) and no registration numbers would be required for e-rickshaws and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will provide certificates to drivers with a fees of Rs 100. He had also stated in the rally that all legal hurdles in plying e-rickshaws on Delhi roads will be removed.
In today’s meeting, when Mr Gadkari was reminded about the promises made by him on June 17, his response was that the ministry officials had informed him that there were legal problems in implementing his announcements. A strange answer from a union minister !
It means the announcements were a mere eyewash. It was also pointed out in the meeting that since three months e-rickshaw drivers are sitting idle and their families are facing financial hardships due to the ban on plying these rickshaws due to inadequate responses of the union transport ministry in the High Court.
The minister has informed that draft rules to permit lawful plying of e-rickshaws in the capital by regulating them have now been posted on the ministry’s website and it is hoped that these rules will be notified within 10 days.
The Aam Aadmi Party makes it clear that in case these rules are not notified within 10 days, the party will launch an agitation on the issue.
The party disapproves of moves to brand e-rickshaw drivers as a votebank and is of the clear view that fighting to ensure justice for poor people is not merely political, and if law of the land permits these rickshaws to ply on roads, nobody should have a problem.