Having said this, in spite of many regulatory lacunas and the suffocating rules governing this trade, there is sufficient breathing space to allow the autorickshaw drivers to initiate a proactive change in their attitude and improve the service they render. To do this, all that they needed was a hope of a better future and an enabling platform. Autorickshaw Star Club is that platform.

Members of the Club will serve as “change agents” not just amongst the autorickshaw drivers, but also for the citizens of the entire city. If such an irredeemable section can change, so can the others. And that will be our message to society.

Autorickshaw drivers are amongst the most insecure sections of society in Delhi. Until we came amidst them in 2002 (phase I) and then again in mid-2006 (phase II), they had no union, no association and no organization. They have no social insurance against accidents, ailments, thefts, etc. Once they cross the age of 60, they are not even allowed to live off autorickshaws. Their rickety three-wheeled vehicle costs 4,35,000 rupees ( October 2008).

This has to change. They provide an essential service upon which depends not just our need for transportation but the reputation of Delhi as a city of international standing. Autorickshaw and taxi drivers are seen as the ambassadors of a city’s reputation. We ought to ensure that we put our best face forward.

The destiny of Delhi’s educated class is closely linked to the destiny of their poor brethren. One section cannot grow beyond a limit to the exclusion or isolation of the other. The time is now to take concrete action towards making everyone a partner in the progress of the city and the nation. The time is now to bring up the downtrodden so that we may enjoy a more evenly progressing and more beautiful society and reckon ourselves amongst the developed nations. Unless that is done, the “victims of progress” will continue to manifest their anger in the form of poor delivery of services such as autorickshaws. Nobody wants that! Nobody can afford that! Nobody should be allowed to let that happen any longer!

Therefore, we have conceived a series of plans and programmes which will primarily benefit autorickshaw drivers, but which will also be of use to other poorer sections of society.