The life of a rickshaw driver in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK), is no less than an ordeal. Each rickshaw driver works for fifteen hours a day on average to earn Rs 800 (US $2.86) to Rs 1000 ($3.58) a day. This amount is roughly 19 to 24 cents an hour. It is out of this trivial amount of earnings that he has to pay for the maintenance of his vehicle and permit fees for him to be allowed to be on the road. The permit fee is around Rs 1800 ($6.44) for three years.
Every six months, an additional charge of Rs 600 ($2.15) called a fitness certificate has to be paid to the government as well. An annual license renewal charge of Rs 1200 ($4.29) is mandatory. Besides, the municipality charges a daily tax of Rs 10 ($0.036) for him to be on the road. Added to the legal cost of driving a rickshaw in Muzaffarabad is the nuisance of traffic police who issue tickets worth around Rs 1000 ($3.60) a week per rickshaw.
Most of the rickshaws are rented at the rate of Rs 400 ($1.43) to Rs 500 ($1.80) a day. Despite paying all the compulsory and necessary costs of being able to earn a living, rickshaw drivers have no allocated parking bays for pick and drop and if a policeman observes a rickshaw parked on a roadside, he will not hesitate for a second to issue a ticket.
Rickshaw drivers are not covered by any social security program and most cannot afford to pay for their children’s school fees. Due to a lack of job opportunities in PoJK, hundreds of unskilled workers as well as graduates with college and university degrees have ended up driving a rickshaw in Muzaffarabad. According to a recent research conducted by Sageer Ahmed, President of JK People’s Lives Matter, 2375 rickshaw drivers have been issued permits to work in Muzaffarabad. However, the actual number of rickshaw drivers is said to be over 4000.
Ahmed Dar started to drive a rickshaw after he completed his 12th grade. He could not afford to continue further education. Shekhawat Mughal also gave up his education after 12th and joined the rickshaw driver community to support his extended family. Wasay Malik is a university graduate. According to Sageer’s report, Malik could not find a job in PoJK and decided to become a rickshaw driver. Similarly, Zakir Shah completed his BSc. He said that only those get a job who have connections with the ‘right’ people.
The lack of job opportunities in PoJK has forced thousands to flee abroad. But even that is not a guarantee that one will be lucky enough to end up in a decent place. Over the years, scores of our youth have drowned and died in the Mediterranean Sea. On June 14, 2023, at least 130 young men from the region of Kotli died when their overloaded boat capsized off the shores of Greece.
Pakistan has done nothing to address poverty and lack of job opportunities in PoJK. No investment in the manufacturing or tourism sector has been made that would alter the appalling economic living conditions of our people. On the contrary, Pakistan continues to plunder our natural resources such as water and precious stones. It is under this backdrop that the people of PoJK began a boycott electricity bill campaign in August 2023. Pakistan has added at least 10 new taxes on electricity bills, making the life and work of a rickshaw driver even more challenging.
Whether or not the Joint Awami Action Committee will add demands to make the lives of Muzaffarabad rickshaw drivers easier and show compassion for this vulnerable section of the working class, only time will tell. At the moment, the life of a rickshaw driver is a daily ordeal to try to feed his family.
Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a broadcaster from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lives in the UK. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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