We invite you to a

Lok Sunwayi of Delhi Cycle Rickshaw Pullers and Owners

Presided over by Sh. N. Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner

Do you know that:

• A citizen of Delhi can legally own any number of cars, trucks, buses or even aeroplanes. But owning more than one cycle rickshaw is ‘illegal’.  And that such an ‘illegal’ vehicle can be confiscated and sold as junk by the municipality.

• A person owning a car or a bus is allowed to hire any number of persons, who have a valid driving license, to drive his/her vehicle. But if a rickshaw owner allows a relative to ply his vehicle, or hires someone else to operate it, the municipal corporation treats it as an offence serious enough to confiscate and destroy his rickshaw.

• This 'rickshaw to the puller' policy may appear pro-poor on paper, but in fact has facilitated a multi crore extortion racket by the municipal employees.

• If a car owner commits a traffic offence or strays into a 'No Entry' zone, he/she pays a relatively small amount of money by way of fine.  A rickshaw puller committing a similar offence, invites confiscation and destruction of the vehicle, or in some areas, a minimum fine of Rs. 325 (apart from the grease money) for getting it released.

• There is no set limit on the number of cars, two-wheelers and other motorised vehicles that can be registered in the city of Delhi.  But the municipal authorities have fixed an unrealistic quota of  99,000 for cycle rickshaws  in actual fact there are 5–6 lakhs of them plying in Delhi.

• The license-quota-raid-raj, as it operates in this sector, has facilitated a vast extortion racket.

• The loss of income suffered by rickshaw-pullers and owners due to monthly bribes and fines to the police and the corporation employees would amount to no less than 60 crores per year in the city of Delhi alone. In addition, they suffer losses due to confiscation and destruction of thousands of rickshaws every year.

To get a fuller account of how the municipal and police officials use absurd and colonial minded laws to tyrannise and fleece rickshaw-pullers and owners through various legal, illegal and extra-legal means, we invite you to join us for a Lok Sunwayi of the people engaged in this trade.

This Public Hearing will be presided over by Shri N. Vittal, Chief Vigilance Commissioner,  Mr. K. P. S. Gill (former D. G. Punjab Police), Mr. Ajit Gulabchand. (businessman), Dr. Dinesh Mohan (IIT Delhi), Sh. Om Thanvi (editor, Jansatta), Sh. Kuldeep Nayar (M.P. Rajya Sabha), Mr. Dilip Padgaonkar (executive managing editor, The Times of India), Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai (NDTV), Mrs. Lekha Shrivastava (India Support Foundation), Mr. Seshadhari Chari (editor, Organiser), Sh. Dhirubhai Sheth (CSDS).

We solicit your support and urge you to inform other interested people to join us for this Lok Sunwayi.

Date: August 29, 2001

Time: 2–5 p.m

Venue: Auditorium, India International Centre, Max Mueller Marg, 40 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi.

Contact: C-174, Lajpat Nagar-1, New Delhi -110024,  Ph.: 6839158, 6833022   Email: manushi@nda.vsnl.net.in

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