Goemkarponn Sunday Special
The COVID-19 pandemic in the State has become one of the worst nightmares for everyone be it government servants, police, health workers or the businessman.
However, the worst hit from this crisis are the taxi operators, who are without any revenue for almost four months now.
For months together, the taxis are parked at one place and have been gathering dust.
While there is no revenue coming in, they have to somehow manage food and other necessities of the family.
Moreover, while doing so they also have to pay the instalments, insurance etc. Besides the verbal rhetoric, the government has done absolutely nothing for them.
Explaining their poor condition, the taxi owners speaking to goemkarponn.com said they now fear of families dying by hunger more than COVID19
The woes of taxi operators, once called taxi mafia, are unending, they said
“We have to pay loan EMIs of taxis, insurance, road tax, maintenance of vehicles and now school fees of children,” said Kundan Kerkar, taxi owner in Calangute and the vice-president of the All Goa taxi owners association.
He said the taxi owners have sought some kind of assistance from the government…but their several representations have fallen on deaf ears.
Instead of helping us, Kerkar further says, the Transport Department has started penalising them for delayed payment of taxes.
“When we ask, they say they have no orders from government to waive off taxes,” he said’
Also, while the government has granted permissions to the hotels recently, there are no takers. Not only very few have opened but fearing pandemic, tourists too have stayed away as Goa has seen huge spike in COVID19 cases, including deaths as such the roads in tourist hotspot of Calangute are left empty, he says.
Another taxi owner from Candolim, Benedict Pinto says that while the hotels are open, domestic flights are landing nearly empty at the Goa International Airport, Dabolim.
“So what is the use of opening hotels?” He asked.
He says that with the vehicles now off-road for four months and lying unused it will be big expense to get them ready for the roads again.
“Even if tourism starts in full flow, not many will be able to repair their vehicles as it will cost huge,” said Pinto.
Calangute Sarpanch Francisco Rodrigues has come out in support of taxi owners and urged government to give some financial assistance to the taxi owners.
“They must get some kind of support like how the mining and construction labourers got,” he says.
He also said that if government takes a resolution and sends to panchayat, the panchayats can also contribute some part and provide some financial aid to the taxi owners from Calangute.
Minister for Waste Management, RDA and Ports says he understand the problems of the taxi operator and stands by the demands.
He says he has met CM Dr Pramod Sawant along with the representatives of Taxi associations and made representations.
Lobo says CM is sympathetic to the issues of the operators and has assured to help.
“Till the last, I will be with the taxi operators, I have always supported them in the past and now too I will be with them,” he said.
While the government in the past has helped the mining dependents with a monthly financial support, same could be looked into for the taxi operators and also the taxes and insurance payments could be done away with till the situation normalises.
While government says it wants to help the taxi operators one fails to understand why the delay?
It helped the mining dependents and the construction labourers, more recently during COVID-19. Then why not the Goemkar brothers? Why this step-motherly treatment.
Is this Goemkarponn?
