By Bhogtoram Mawroh
A couple of weeks ago, I was returning home from Delhi. When I reached Guwahati airport, I called a taxi driver who is also a friend to come and pick me up. He was the same person who drove me down to Guwahati airport. Over the last 4-5 years, I have used this taxi driver whenever I had to tragvel to Guwahati. Only on one occasion he could not pick me up because his taxi met with an accident. I had to take a taxi parked at the airport. The driver was Assamese and a very amiable person. He dropped me at my house and then drove to Khyndailad so that he could get passengers for the return journey to Guwahati. At the airport, I recall another driver arguing with him as I entered the taxi. Since I understand a bit of little Assamese, I heard the other driver protesting angrily that he shouldn’t also get to drive to Shillong (i.e., get business). So, even among the Assamese drivers there is a lot of competition. In fact, you can see the desperation on their faces to make a living. While I sympathise with the Assamese drivers, I want to return to Shillong with a local driver. It could be a Khasi, Garo, Bengali or Nepali but it has to be one of our people. Not only do I feel comfortable but we also have to look after our own. The Assamese are doing it. Why shouldn’t we?
In my conversation with the taxi driver he told me that taxis from Shillong can no longer park at the airport premises since it has become very expensive. Previously, a space was allotted for drivers from Meghalaya. But now it is becoming very difficult. With the little tiff I saw between the Assamese drivers themselves, it could get even more difficult in the future. So, how do we tackle this crisis?
One straightforward solution is to introduce the railways. Tourists or anyone visiting Meghalaya will no longer have to disembark in Assam. When they arrive at Meghalaya, it is the local taxis that would get the business. Authorities can only allow a certain number of Assamese drivers near the railway station, considering the local taxi’s current capacity. Railways will also end Meghalaya’s dependence on Assam where the Hindutva politics implemented by an upper caste Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sharma, is creating problems for the indigenous peoples of the North East particularly Meghalaya, like the recent beef ban which will affect the supply chain to some extent. The time to reduce our dependence on Assam has never been more pressing than now.
However, just like the jaidbynriew politics which wants to have ‘Khasi first’ in Meghalaya, there is also an Assamese version of ‘Assamese first’ being played out in the whole tourist taxi saga. Let’s be clear, the Assamese may follow their own version of jaidbynriew politics in their own territory and we have to make peace with it. Circumventing it is the only way out and railways in more ways than one represent the solution. However, those professing jaidbynriew politics are the ones who are against this solution, claiming that it will lead to migrants making the indigenous people a minority in their homeland. That is a complete lie.
The last 50 years census report has showed that the non-indigenous population of the state has been going down and has declined by almost 10%. There is no immigration but out-migration which is taking place. Strict provisions prohibit the sale of land to non-indigenous entities (persons or institutions), and these provisions, come what may will not be allowed to be violated. I was part of the anti-CAA protest from the very first rally which gathered outside St Edmund’s college and marched to Mothphran. A national magazine documenting anti-CAA protests around the country published one of my anti-CAA cartoons. However, I don’t want to act based on lies. If the new Census (whenever it happens) were to change the trend and show that the non-indigenous population is not declining but going up, I will change my mind immediately. Until then, I will base my decision on facts. However, few would agree with me at the moment and therefore railways might not be an immediate solution. But we have to find a solution to help our taxi drivers and protect the interests of the state. Hence there is a solution which I would like to propose for discussion regarding its feasibility.A big problem our drivers are facing right now is that they are not getting the space and the time to take passengers from the Airport. I don’t know about the railway station because I have not travelled by rail for some time now. So, the issue is a space where our drivers can wait out for the passengers. During a personal discussion, Avner Pariat proposed that the Meghalaya government could lease land for parking state taxis. A driver or a couple of them (it’s not a big airport) could use the stand outside the airport exit with a sign saying ‘enjoy reduced taxi fares to Shillong and amazing discounts at our partner hotels!’ Essentially, passengers using Meghalaya taxis receive discounted taxi fares and hotel rates. You could have a booth specifically meant to get passengers for Meghalaya taxis, but it could be a little costly. A couple of people standing with placards will not cost much. It’s a marketing tool for attracting customers without getting into a confrontation with the Assamese drivers. Even if the Assamese drivers were to reduce the fare to compete, they cannot have the same deals with the hotels in Meghalaya. Once the passengers have agreed, the Meghalaya local taxis parked outside the airport can be called for pickup. For this to work, the reduced fares and the discounts have to be real. This is where the Government has to step in.
There has to be an agreement between the taxi associations and the hotels regarding the arrangement. The Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL), a State Government company, could facilitate the process by also creating a database of the drivers and host a site which will have information about the tourist sites in the state linked with the website of the hotels, guest houses, and the various rates they offer, normal and discount if they were to take Meghalaya taxis. The people standing outside the airport could give the tourists’ their business cards with the address of the site or a pamphlet for them to check the fares. Once the passengers are inside the taxis, the drivers could give their own cards so that they can then keep and share those with others, visiting the state in future. The hotel would pay drivers the remaining fare and include this amount in the tourist discount. Hotels add this to their total tax payment to the government, which they can then reclaim by submitting the paperwork. The government will subsidise the scheme, but it is as a part of the revenue foregone rather than a grant being allocated.
This would affect tax collections, but we could fund the program by reducing the number of political appointees, and freeing up their salaries and allowances. Some people get allowances, but not a salary. We could also cut that. We could also curtail many foreign trips that don’t seem to benefit the state. Some savings could come from there as well. It is also unfair that for a state whose per capita income is less than 10,000, our MLAs should get a salary of over 2 lakhs a month. Maybe, the MLAs would voluntarily ask for a reduction in the salaries to support the program. If the MLAs were to take only 1 lakh per month, the amount saved is a minimum of 7.2 crore and added with salaries and allowances of political appointees could reach a minimum 10 crore. Is Rs 10 crore a year not enough money to support this program? If it is still less, the government could use the funds under tourism projects for which they will or are already taking loans and claim it as part of a livelihood support program. Revenue is in fact not getting lost if we consider that the increased income of the local taxi drivers is being used by them to raise the effective demand in the local economy, thus improving the overall business. Improved business would raise tax collection, which could mitigate some of the loss. Whether that would completely compensate for the loss, I am not sure. But anyway, the FOCUS program was also about handing out sums of money to farmers, which were basically a grant. How different is this going to be?
Politically, it could help the government in shoring its own support among the populace for solving a problem which is not just economics but also an emotional one linked with dignity and respect. That could bring political dividends for the government in the elections. During the election, candidates spend a lot of money for canvassing votes. This is basically campaigning but before elections. One thing to remember is that this is only for taxis plying the Shillong-Guwahati route and does not include local taxis plying between districts or within the state. So, the financial impact might not be very high. We could also withdraw support after a couple of years, once tourists become accustomed to using Meghalaya taxis and have established connections (remember the business cards).
Of course, this is just a rough mental exercise of how we can help our drivers at the same time not get into a confrontation with our Assam counterparts. There could be different iterations of this or something completely different. But the goal will be the same which is to help our people. And for the government how to ensure it gets elected next time.
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)