Kathmandu, June 30
Over 300 taxi drivers staged a demonstration in different places of Kathmandu on Tuesday morning demanding they are also allowed to operate as the lockdown restrictions have been relaxed.
Since the third week of June, the government has allowed private cars and bikes to ply roads within a district. However, taxis have been restricted as other public transport vehicles. But, the taxi drivers say they are ready to operate the cabs adopting safety measures as private cars. They argue the government’s decision to continue the restriction has put the lives of thousands of taxi drivers at stake.
“A taxi is also similar to a private car. It is not that those travelling on a taxi contract Covid-19 and those travelling on a car do not,” Deepak KC, one of the protesters, says, “Therefore, we have demanded that we should be allowed to take two passengers once with proper management.”
KC informs that the cabbies had expected some decision to address their concerns from the cabinet meeting on Monday evening, but they were resorted to protest after the meeting decided to continue the existing model until July 22.
Meanwhile, the police took under control the drivers used to demonstrate their protest.
