Govt needs to balance jobs and safety: Gadkari on e-rickshaws

Defending his stand on the issue of e-rickshaws, Road Minister Nitin Gadkari today said that the government has to create a balance between a poor man's job and safety parameters.
He said the reason behind allowing them to ply is to stop the "inhuman practice" of manually-pulled rickshaws.
The minister said the law should be strict and "we also have to take care of the common man, therefore we have to create a balance between the two".
The Delhi High Court on July 31 ordered a ban on plying of e-rickshaws in the national capital, saying that they are illegally running on Delhi roads, and prima facie a hazard to other traffic as well citizens.

The ban is still continuing as the High Court on August 5 made it clear that it cannot allow them to ply unless there are guidelines to regulate them. It asked the Centre to come up with draft regulations on the issue.
It has fixed September 9 for passing the order on whether e-rickshaws should ply in the national capital before the rules are framed to regulate them under the Motor Vehicles Act.
Gadkari also said that his ministry will soon start the process of seeking comments from various stakeholders and bring a fresh bill in the winter session of Parliament.

He had earlier said that the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill being prepared will be in sync with practices in six advanced nations - US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.