The government has finally started the process to issue licence to Mishuks owners and drivers for launching CNG or petrol-run four stroke three-wheeler auto rickshaws in Dhaka city.
Mishuk owners and workers said that they had suffered a lot as the authorities concerned had delayed taking the initiative. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority made city roads off-limits to mishuks on January 1, 2012 as the route permits of the vehicles expired on December 21, 2011.
The mishuk owners and workers demanded their rehabilitation after the mishuks had gone off the streets.
The BRTA on November 1, 2012 issued a notification, saying that the government had decided to replace 2,696 mishuks with CNG or petrol-run three-wheelers in Dhaka.
The BRTA also asked the mishuk owners to submit their applications by November 11 to purchase auto-rickshaws within five months after getting its approval and follow the CNG/petrol-driven four-stroke three-wheeler service policy, 2007 to run these auto-rickshaws.
Dhaka District Taxicab, CNG and Mishuk Workers’ Unity Council chairman Mohammad Shahidul Islam told New Age on Friday that the BRTA selected some owners after they (owners) had submitted applications for replacement of mishuks.
‘The process has remained stopped for a long time and the authority on Thursday started the selection process,’ he said. Shahidul added: ‘We, the mishuk drivers, have been suffering a lot as we have been out of job for a long time.’
Dhaka District Auto-Rickshaws, Auto-Tempo and Mishuk Workers’ Union general secretary Mohammad Golam Faruque said that as nearly 2,500 mishuk drivers had been jobless, they were facing enormous problems.
‘The government has finally started the process after about one and a half year,’ he lamented. He also said that passengers would get more transports because of this initiative.
BRTA director (engineering) Mohammad Saiful Haque said on Thursday that they had already started the selection process.
-With New Age input
