Sirmaur taxi union holds protest near Shimla DC office, accuse minister of bias

Shimla, June 20

Members of the Sirmaur taxi union held a protest outside the deputy commissioner’s office here on Tuesday, accusing Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh of bias over his comment against guides from the district working in Shimla.

The taxi union members of Shimla and Sirmaur were involved in a scuffle last week over an ongoing dispute between the two bodies on fares. Five people were injured in it.

In an attempt at pacifying the Shimla taxi union, Anirudh Singh on Monday said all those involved in the scuffle would be arrested and asked the taxi drivers to be patient. He, however, said guides from Sirmaur who approach tourist vehicles in Shimla town would be removed.

The Sirmaur taxi union protested against the statement on Tuesday, saying Singh is a minister of the entire state and not just Shimla. Politics of bias towards a district will not be tolerated, they said.

Lending support to the protest, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur issued a statement saying Anirudh Singh’s statement was an attack on the federal structure and was aimed at breaking the state.

He alleged that police were not even registering complaints of injured members of the Sirmaur taxi union.

The law-and-order situation in the state has deteriorated in the past six months and the chief minister has no control over his ministers, Thakur added.

Meanwhile, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI that 10 people were arrested and 16 vehicles impounded following last week’s scuffle and FIRs were registered based on complaints from both sides.

A committee has been constituted to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand, he added.

Trouble started when a driver of the Sirmaur taxi union showing hotel rooms to a tourist near Auckland Tunnel in Shimla town’s Lakkar Bazaar area was allegedly thrashed by some people of the Shimla taxi union.

The Shimla union members, however, claimed that it was the taxi driver of Sirmaur who used abusive language and started the fight.