Welfare Board For Auto Workers To Be Set Up Soon: Deputy CM Bhatti

The Telangana government will soon establish a dedicated welfare board for auto-rickshaw drivers and their families, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said on Saturday. The government also assured transport-sector workers that their genuine concerns would be examined with a humanitarian approach and addressed through appropriate measures.

Bhatti made the announcement during an interaction with leaders of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing auto-rickshaw drivers’ associations in Hyderabad. He hosted an interaction and dinner for the union leaders at Praja Bhavan, where Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and SC Development Minister Adluri Laxman were also present.

Addressing the representatives after the meeting, Bhatti said the government was committed to keeping people’s needs at the centre of its agenda. He said the issues raised by auto drivers had been studied in detail by Ponnam Prabhakar and subsequently brought before the Cabinet for consideration.

One of the key demands raised by the auto drivers was an increase in fares. After examining the request and discussing it in the Cabinet, the government issued an order increasing the auto fare from ₹11 to ₹14 per kilometre. Bhatti recalled that the ₹11-per-kilometre fare had been fixed by the Congress government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The Deputy Chief Minister also criticised the previous administration, alleging that the concerns of auto workers were neglected during the decade after Telangana was formed.

Highlighting the scale of the transport workforce, Bhatti said around 20 lakh worker families depend on the transport sector for their livelihoods. He said the proposal to establish a separate welfare board had already been discussed in the Cabinet.

The government will now complete the required legislative discussions and make the necessary budgetary allocations before formally setting up the board, he said. The proposed body is expected to provide a dedicated institutional mechanism to address the welfare and livelihood-related concerns of auto workers.

Bhatti also assured the representatives that other issues raised by auto drivers would be examined and that the government would take fair and practical decisions on matters that were found to be justified.

The Deputy Chief Minister reiterated that the welfare of workers dependent on the transport sector would remain a priority for the state government.