Auto-rickshaw, cab drivers elated over 10k sop

Tirupati: Those having auto-rickshaws and taxi and maxi cabs are elated as they can get Rs 10,000 a year as financial assistance every year from the state government. It is applicable to all the drivers who own auto-rickshaw or taxi or maxi cab, to meet expenses of insurance, fitness certificate, repairs and other requirements.

The government has also released Rs 400 crore for implementing the scheme. More than 40,000 drivers are expected to be eligible for the scheme in Chittoor district and about 60 per cent of them in Tirupati region alone while the remaining may be in Chittoor region.

In fact, as on date the district has a total of 6,2270 auto-rickshaws and other cabs. But as per the guidelines, the scheme will be applicable to only one vehicle per family comprising wife and husband and minor children. If the children are majors and vehicle is on their name, they will be eligible for the scheme and not the father, said a transport department official.

It was intended to benefit the below poverty line families having white ration card. The Aadhaar card is also mandatory for registration under the scheme and it should be linked to his vehicle.

They should also have unencumbered bank account so that the government will credit the financial assistance directly into the account. The drivers can register their names for the scheme online by submitting all necessary documents. The process began on September 14 and will continue on Sunday also. The last date will be September 25.

Transport department has opened help counters to facilitate filing of online applications and linking of Aadhaar number. Beneficiaries can register at common service centres or Mee Seva kendras too. They can download the application form from www.aprtacitizen.epragathi.org.

The applications will be sent to village or ward volunteers by the collector. After they are verified, mandal parishad development officers in rural areas and municipal commissioners in urban areas will take approval of the collector and upload to CFMS database portal. From that portal, the transport commissioner will raise a consolidated bill for eligible beneficiaries and submit to the treasury for payment to their bank accounts.

Around 1,200 people registered their names in the first two days of the process of enrolment, said Tirupati regional transport officer (RTO) G Vivekananda Reddy. Due to heavy rush in Tirumala, cab drivers might have engaged in carrying the pilgrims and the process may pick up in the next few days. The transport offices will be kept open on Sundays and holidays too till September 25 to facilitate the beneficiaries to get registered, he said.

An auto-rickshaw driver K Venkataratnam expressed happiness over the scheme as it could help financial assistance to an extent. "Apart from maintaining the family, the maintenance expenditure of auto-rickshaw has become burdensome for me. Every year, I am finding it difficult to pay the insurance premium. This Rs 10,000 will ease my difficulties to some extent," he observed.