LAHORE   -  Mian Asad Hameed, President of Rickshaw Manufacturers Association, called on Acting Punjab Governor Ch Parvez Elahi at Governor House and apprised him of the problems faced by the industry.

Ch Parvez Elahi said: “Rickshaws are owned and driven by poor people. Increase in the manufacturing fee from Rs10,000 to Rs1 million will give rise to unemployment.” He pointed out that it was not necessary to put all of them on Ehsaas programme. “Let them earn their own living,” he asked the government. Parvez Elahi called for an immediate withdrawal of increase in taxation, asking the government to seek prayers of the poor.

He maintained rickshaws were the biggest source of employment for the working class as the people in cities as well as in rural areas would use that mode of transportation. He stated instead of providing employment to the poor, employment was being snatched from them. 

Mian Asad Hameed, President of Rickshaw Manufacturers Association, said that the increase in fee had stopped the rickshaw registration process, leaving millions unemployed.