City rickshaw pullers left in the lurch

hyderabad: their is no joy in their lives. with no one to lend an ear to their miseries, the cycle-rickshaw pullers in the old city are finding it difficult to earn two meals a day for their families. though they form an essential link between the main roads and the lanes in the old city for transportation of passengers and goods, hundreds of rickshaw pullers are grappling with poverty for the last several decades.in addition, most of them suffer from serious health problems. to their misfortune, neither the state government nor any voluntary organisation is working for their welfare. in 1995, the society for employment promotion and training in twin cities (setwin), conducted a survey on the socio-economic condition of rickshaw pullers and suggested several measures for their rehabilitation. but the survey findings and the proposals are yet to be implemented by the government. “the condition of rickshaw pullers now is worse than in 1995. the inflation has increased by many folds, but their earnings have remained the same,� syed bandagi badshah quadri, who was a part of the survey team, told the times of india. according to one estimate, more than two thirds of the 20,000 odd rickshaw pullers in hyderabad, live in the old city. the figure is 10,000 less than what was estimated in 1995 in the setwin’s survey assuming that they might have shifted to other professions. a 1962 study by the indian institute of economics had put the number of rickshaw pullers in the city at 16,700. the setwin survey, which almost corresponds with the present situation, revealed that 77.55 per cent of rickshaw pullers fall in the age-group of 20 to 40 years. almost 70 per cent of them ply hired rickshaws and their average earning was rs 32 per day. about 25 per cent were found ‘not so healthy’ and nearly 20 per cent were in ‘poor health’. based on these findings, setwin had then submitted a proposal to the government asking for rs 72 lakh for the rehabilitation of 1,000 rickshaw pullers. but the proposals remained unimplemented even after seven years.