PUNE: Several autorickshaw drivers are anxious about the “field test” from Sunday, after the basic training in Marathi at the Pune RTO.A senior official of the Pune RTO (Regional Transport Office) said 720 autorickshaw drivers had undergone Marathi training over the past two months. Yet, some trained drivers are iffy about interacting fluently with passengers in Marathi. The state govt will act against those who cannot speak Marathi from Aug 16.Noor Alam Ansari, an autorickshaw driver for 20 years, wished he had learnt Marathi earlier. “At the RTO, officials taught us basic Marathi to interact with passengers, accept trips, inform them about fares and explain routes. I have tried my best to learn and practise these sentences, but I am still a bit anxious,” he said.A Pune RTO official said 4,000-5,000 auto drivers and cabbies in Pune do not know Marathi at all. “The number here is much lower than that in Mumbai. Most autorickshaw drivers in Pune know Marathi. Whenever drivers come to the Alandi Road centre for vehicle fitness certificates, we ask them about their language skills. Those who do not know Marathi are directed to the RTO for the ongoing language training,” he said.The official said random checks would begin after Aug 15. Action would be taken as per the state’s directions, he said.An autorickshaw driver from Madhya Pradesh, in Pune for the past five years, called the Marathi training at the RTO “a waste of time”. “I respect the language and the culture of the state, but there are more serious issues. We are standing in queues for hours to get CNG. Shouldn’t the govt address these issues first?” he asked.The state govt on Wednesday amended the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, making the working knowledge of Marathi mandatory for autorickshaw drivers, app-based cab drivers and permit holders of commercial passenger vehicles. There are over 1.45 lakh autorickshaws and around 63,000 cabs in the Pune RTO’s jurisdiction. Cabbies are scrambling to learn the basics of Marathi.A driver said he was under stress after learning about the requirement. “How can we learn the language in two or three days? I have been driving in Pune for five years and never faced a language-related problem with passengers. I have asked friends to teach me basic Marathi sentences. I am trying to memorise those,” he said.Another cabby said he had written down 15-20 basic Marathi sentences in Hindi and was memorising them. “I do not want to face action,” he said.
