Kolkata: The new union at a Bijoygarh rickshaw stand, which calls itself ‘Jatiyotabadi Rickshaw Union’ and has a BJP symbol on its board, has announced that for all its 60 rickshaw-puller members, it is now compulsory to pay Rs 100 as a union charge by the 10th of every month. If anyone fails to pay it for three months in a row, he must pay Rs 500 as fine.Earlier, this charge used to be Rs 30 a month.This, when BJP seniors in the state have been vocal against the “culture of extortion”.The union charge was hiked earlier, said some rickshaw pullers. But the board, announcing it, along with other rules, had now been pulled down, they claimed.According to locals as well as commuters, the now-disappeared board openly displayed different “rules” and “rates”, such as how much one should pay every month to operate a rickshaw in the area, how much an operator should pay to be allowed to keep a rickshaw “in the line”, and that former rickshaw pullers would be allowed to return to this stand but only after the payment of a “fee” of Rs 2,000.Besides the list of rates, several public-interest rules were also written on the earlier board, like children aged 10 and above would be charged full fare, and no one must drive a rickshaw while drunk or high on marijuana.The union secretary, Nishikanta, said he was not aware of “who removed the board” from the stand near Bijoygarh Purbachal Club. “I support the party in office. We have not increased fares. But this has been a collective decision, irrespective of what the party may have instructed us. Rs 30 a month makes no sense any more. The new amounts collected will be used to repair our vehicles or to cover medical costs of our members,” he said.Rickshaw pullers, meanwhile, are trying to make sense of the “flip-flop”. Some also claimed fares were raised slightly. One of them said, “The old union was dissolved after the elections. Some of our people who claimed to know some local party functionaries formed a new committee around a month ago. Earlier, we paid Rs 30 a month. Fares have also been increased by Rs 3 to Rs 4.”How much would it cost to introduce a new rickshaw into service? None of the drivers could say. One said, “It will probably be even more.”BJP members have been speaking out against extortion. “We are in no way linked to such localised decisions. Let us go through the situation and the party will intervene, if required. No extortion will be allowed, leave alone if it’s committed using the party name,” said a BJP spokesperson.
