1,499 Auto, Cab Drivers Get Notices Over Lack Of Working Knowledge Of Marathi

Mumbai: On the second day of the state-wide drive, the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) issued notices to 1,499 non-Marathi-speaking auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers across Maharashtra on Friday for not having enough working knowledge of Marathi language. A senior official said 5,299 auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers were subjected to the language test across Maharashtra, excluding the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), of whom 777 were found to be lacking the working knowledge of Marathi.

"Notices were issued to all such drivers," he said.

In the MMR, 3,482 drivers were assessed, of whom 722 failed to clear the test, and notices were issued to 622 of them, the official said.

The exercise, which began on Thursday, is being carried out as part of the Transport Department's drive to ensure that auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers possess working knowledge of Marathi.

On the first day of the month-long drive, 8,217 drivers were put to test and 1,268 commercial passenger vehicle drivers, including auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, were issued notices for failing the language proficiency test. Of these, 604 notices were issued in the MMR.

According to the RTO officials, checks are being carried out by flying squads as well as during the renewal of vehicle fitness certificates at RTO offices.

During the exercise, the drivers are being put through a 16-question test based on everyday situations, including communicating with passengers about destinations, directions, fares, meters, routes and stands.

The drive will continue till September 30.

The move follows the state government's decision to make working knowledge of Marathi mandatory for taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers. The state has also amended the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, to give effect to the requirement.

The government had earlier launched Marathi-language training for non-Marathi-speaking drivers, with 1.65 lakh drivers completing the course and receiving certificates during a 105-day campaign.

However, some drivers' union leaders and retired RTO officials have questioned the lack of a clear definition and standardised benchmark for "working knowledge" of Marathi, saying this could lead to arbitrary assessments.

Meanwhile, a viral video of an autorickshaw being loaded onto a train alongside claims that non-Marathi drivers were fleeing Mumbai due to the Maharashtra transport department's language drive has created a stir online, prompting the Central Railway to clarify that the clip was old. Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila on Saturday confirmed that the footage, which surfaced on social media, showed an autorickshaw loaded onto the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Banaras summer special train, which operated between April and June, proving that the clip had no connection to the current language drive.

The state transport department launched a month-long drive on August 20 to test the working knowledge of Marathi among autorickshaw and taxi drivers, with RTO teams already issuing notices to over 2,700 motorists across Maharashtra for failure to meet the statutory language requirements.

The viral video showed loaders trying to cram an autorickshaw into a train's luggage compartment. A voiceover in the clip claims that the three-wheeler was being loaded into a train as autorickshaw drivers were fleeing the city due to the RTO's ongoing language drive. It also warned non-Marathi drivers to learn the language or meet the same fate.

The video was posted with a caption stating that drivers will have to learn Marathi, else they will have to flee to UP, Bihar and Jharkhand.