All Assam Unemployed Association demands of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to resolve Meghalaya-Assam tourist taxi row

LAKHIMPUR: The All Assam Unemployed Association has demanded Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to resolve the issue of banning Assam tourist taxis with regard to proceeding to the tourist spots of Meghalaya by holding talk with the government of the neighbouring state. In this connection the organization submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Monday.

Regarding the issue, AAUA president Dharmendra Deuri, general secretary Jiban Rajkhowa in a press statement said, “While lakhs of unemployed youths in Assam are struggling for government jobs, some of them have employed themselves individually in various way in addition to providing jobs to others too. Almost 40,000 unemployed youths of Assam have been involved with the tourism sector of the neighbouring state of Meghalaya as taxi drivers. But the Meghalaya taxi drivers’ union has been preventing taxi drivers from Assam from visiting tourist destinations in Meghalaya for the past week, resulting in a conflict between the taxi drivers of the two states. Under such circumstances, taxi drivers in Assam are facing difficulties in earning their bread. So, we, on behalf of AAUA have demanded the Chief Minister of Assam to hold talks with the Government of Meghalaya to resolve the issue”.

It should be noted here that Hynniewtrep National Youth Federation (HNYF), a pressure group in Meghalaya, has imposed a ban on Assam tourist taxis from proceeding to the tourist spots in the state in the interest of the local taxis. The drivers’ union had also earlier raised a similar demand. Following the travel restrictions imposed by the organization, fear and uncertainty have gripped commuters and taxi drivers from Assam planning to visit tourist destinations in Meghalaya. On Friday, HNYF members reportedly blocked hundreds of Assam vehicles in the Umtyngngar area of East Khasi Hills district, alleging that the influx of tourist taxis from Assam has greatly impacted the livelihood of local taxi drivers in Meghalaya. The incident has raised safety concerns among the tourists from Assam and instilled a lot of fear among them.

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