NT NETWORK
Panaji
The COVID-induced restrictions have taken a heavy toll on motorcycle pilots and rickshaw drivers whose clientele mostly consist of people from the middle class.
Rickshaw drivers from Panaji city said that after confining themselves within the four walls of their dwellings during the total lockdown, they received some relief after relaxation in curfew but the joy was short-lived as they are not getting customers with people fearing to move out of the houses, and colleges and schools still shut.
They claimed that the middle class is feeling the heat as many have been rendered “jobless” and most of them think twice before hiring a rickshaw or motorcycle pilot. They said that the rising prices of petrol, LPG and essential commodities has threatened the survival of the middle class adding, “Our daily customers now refuse to patronise us and prefer to walk from areas like Panaji market to the bus stand or market to Miramar or Panaji to St Inez instead of hiring our services.”
“Previously, people from the middle used to hire our services to ferry their children to school or college with our clientele also including teachers and businessmen but after the COVID lockdown we are just abandoned like taxi drivers who are suffering due to absence of tourists,” they informed. “Most rickshaw drivers and motorcycle pilots live in rented premises so we have to bear expenses like house maintenance, house rent, children’s school fees, books, new school dresses but we are overburdened with extra expenses of buying expensive mobile handsets for online classes for the children,” they added.
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