West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today announced in his Independence Day speech that he would be removing what he called one symbol of human bondage from the streets of Kolkata — the hand-pulled rickshaw. And to ensure that the over 100-year-old fixture on the streets of the city does indeed disappear — some earlier attempts have failed — he set a time-frame of four to five months and mentioned a rehabilitation plan too for those with licences. ‘‘We have made a policy decision that we will remove the hand-pulled rickshaws from the streets of the city,’’ said the Chief Minister, soon after hoisting the Tricolour in front of Writer’s Building. ‘‘Not only is it an eyesore, this mode of transport is also a major hindrance to speedy movement on our roads. And one man pulling another man is inhuman. Nowhere in the world does this practice exist. We will try to rehabilitate those who have licences — maybe they will be provided with bicycle rickshaws.’’ The transport department, the Kolkata Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation were working on the rehabilitation plan, Bhattacharjee announced. The Chief Minister said he was keen to go through with this because it was a blot on the image of Kolkata. ‘‘For most westerners, Kolkata is synonymous with hand-pulled rickshaws, beggars etc. We will have to change the image,’’ he said. Kolkata’s hand-pulled rickshaw — a remnant of the Raj that has been around for over 100 years — was immortalised by author Dominique Lapierre in The City of Joy that was later made into a film. It was introduced in the city by the Chinese in the late 19th century for carrying goods. Later it became popular as a mode of transport in the city. According to one estimate, there are about 6,000 hand-pulled rickshaws in the city at present but the number of people depending on them for livelihood is more because in many cases one rickshaw is used by more than one person. Most of the rickshaw-pullers are from the impoverished areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Covering small distances, mostly barefoot, and making numerous trips during the day, their bells announcing their presence, these men live together, often consumed by diseases. Most of them don’t own the rickshaws and have to pay a major part of their earnings as rent. They are also easy prey for the police. Kolkata’s middle class may pay some lip-service to their plight but finds it quite convenient to hop onto a rickshaw for a ride. It’s found to be particularly useful during monsoon when vehicles break down in waterlogged streets and commuters are wary of wading in water. Jyoti Basu had tried to put a stop to the practice but didn’t succeed. Without a proper rehabilitation plan, these men will be left to fend for themselves. ‘‘We are not opposed to the move,’’ Mukhtar Ali, vice-president of the All Bengal Rickshaw Union, told The Indian Express. ‘‘But the government must arrange for an alternative means of livelihood; otherwise we will take to the streets.’’ ‘‘We are ready to give it up but we will have to get something instead to eke out a living,’’ said Quddus Ali, who is from Hazaribagh and has been doing the job for the past 20 years. ‘‘We hope the government will think of that.’’ Asked Birju Rai — from Muzaffarpur in Bihar — who has been running on the streets of Kolkata for the past 25 years: ‘‘What will we eat if it’s snatched from us?’’
