CPI senior leader Donepudi Shankar on Tuesday asked the state government to pay Rs 50,000 compensation to the all autos that were marooned in the flood water in Vijayawada. Addressing a dharna of the auto drivers on the day, Shankar said that the autos were in the flood water for ten days.
Shankar said that there are over 40,000 autos that were inundated in the flood water. They were in the water for ten days and were damaged, he said. He said that the insurance companies were paying nominal amount while the repair cost touches Rs 50,000.
The CPI leader said that the state government had announced just Rs 10,000 compensation to every auto. This amount was not sufficient and the auto drivers and owners were looking for some help from the state government.
Shankar said that CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna had met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Velagapudi and requested him to increase the compensation to Rs 50,000. He said that the chief minister had promised to look into the request and take a decision.
The auto drivers and owners had no work for ten days as they were all held up in the flood water. Even after the flood water receded, they have no work now as the autos are to be repaired. They are running from pillar to post seeking some help to get the autos repaired, he said.
Shankar asked the state government to take a decision at the earlist and increase the compensation to Rs 50,000 by this month end. If the government failed to increase the compensation, he said that he would lead a protest at the camp offices of transport minister and labour minister in Vijayawada.
AITUC State unit president Ravulapalli Ravindranath demanded that the government declare the Vijayawada floods as national calamity. He blamed the Central government for not announcing single rupee compensation to the flood victims even after one month of the disaster.
Auto workers and owners union secretary Gudela Janardhan, AITUC city unit secretary Kottu Ramana Rao, union leaders K V Bhaskara Rao, Sangula Peraiah, Mannem Subbaiah and others addressed the protest.
