A working knowledge of Marathi will now be mandatory for getting auto-rickshaw permits in Mumbai
The Maharashtra government's decision to issue new auto rickshaw permits only to those who know Marathi has triggered an angry reaction from the ruling Janta Dal (United) in poll-bound Bihar.
"This will hurt those migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who go in search for work to Mumbai," said Vashishta Narayan Singh, President of the JD(U)'s Bihar unit adding, "the Maharashtra government must withdraw it."
The BJP in Maharashtra insists the decision is not "new" but they are only implementing provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act, which mandate that knowing the regional language and owning a domicile certificate are necessary to obtain a permit. "This is the law. It is mandatory even for an IAS officer to know the local language," Maharashtra's finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said backing their ally the Shiv Sena.
Majority of auto rickshaw drivers in Mumbai are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, but the auto permits are largely held by Marathi-speaking locals who then sub-let their vehicle to others. So, on the ground will the decision hurt migrant workers from the two Northern states?
The autorickshaw unions, however, agreed that the law was indeed there but claimed the government was snatching jobs from the poor by imposing such laws. "It is true that the law demands domicile certificate and knowing the local language for getting a permit. But to impose it this way it is clear that it is politically motivated," alleged Shashank Rao, leader of the Mumbai Autorickshawmen Union.
The opposition Congress too attacked the government claiming the Shiv Sena was playing the "Marathi Manoos" card and was trying to consolidate its votebank for the 2017 civic body election in the city.