The Saga of Rickshaw: Identity, Struggle and Claims

This book presents the findings of the Action Research Programme on Rickshaws and Rickshaw pullers 2000–2002, demonstrating the problems and negative attitudes that rickshaw owners, drivers and users are beset with, their place in society and what needs to be done to protect the livelihoods of those within the rickshaw business. The researchers investigated the entire rickshaw business in the national capital region of India (Delhi), from rickshaw drivers to mechanics, rickshaw producers to rickshaw owners and those who use rickshaws, and also the traffic police and officials from the municipal bodies who want to rid the streets of Delhi of rickshaws.

The foreword outlines the pressures of modernization and globalization that should be forcing out traditional forms of transport, but which, as long as they are still needed and used, are not ridding the streets of rickshaws. Attempts to regularize rickshaws has traditionally involved bribery and corruption, which has led to the current situation where of 400,000 rickshaws, only one in four is registered.

Chapter 1 outlines the wide range of people who make up the numbers of rickshaw drivers, rickshaw owners, mechanics and users of rickshaws. This chapter examines how rickshaw drivers live, and what they are likely to earn, their level of education, the barriers to proper registration and the unequal power struggle that exists between rickshaw drivers and owners. Chapter 2 presents the increasingly negative impact that the regularization of road traffic is having on rickshaw livelihoods, and how police and other officials are unpicking their ability to ply their trade, despite political support for their plight from some quarters. This chapter suggests that a more effective organization of rickshaw drivers could assist in breaking down some of these barriers. This chapter also outlines the opportunities for improved production and technical development of rickshaws, as rickshaw technology has remained static for many years.

Recommendations presented in the final chapter include making more road space available to rickshaw drivers, as rickshaws still are and will remain an important, non-polluting form of public transport that needs to be accommodated within the current system. Motorized transport has reached maximum capacity on the current roads. A new integrated transport policy is to be prepared, but rickshaws are not necessarily going to be part of this, which would be shortsighted. In order to prioritize alternative forms of transport, such as the rickshaw, the authors suggest that a department of non-motorized vehicles be created. Rickshaws should be considered an integral part of the public transport system. Furthermore, a rickshaw cooperative society should be formed for temporary drivers and basic necessities should be arranged, with tax rebates offered to users, as is the case with other forms of transport. The report also recommends the development of a government policy for the technological development of rickshaws; also, space should be made available for rickshaw mechanics and a social-level propaganda programme should be developed to popularize the rickshaw.