Four cab drivers utilizing mobile aggregator apps have filed a petition with the Bombay High Court against the Maharashtra government’s requirement to use the Marathi language. This legal move highlights growing tensions regarding language policies in the state and their impact on the gig economy.
Maharashtra Launches Month-Long Language Assessment for Drivers
The Maharashtra state government is initiating a month-long drive to evaluate the Marathi language skills of drivers. This initiative follows a directive from Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, issued on August 12, which mandates that drivers of passenger transport vehicles possess a working knowledge of Marathi. The aim is to enhance communication between drivers and commuters.
Fadnavis said the objective behind the government drive was not to make the drivers experts in the language, but to ensure that they could communicate in the local language for work, PTI news agency reported. Meanwhile, commuters in Mumbai faced problems while travelling as autorickshaw drivers went on a strike to oppose the new rule. After videos circulating on social media showed demonstrations in a few locations in Mumbai, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis stepped in to address the issue.
The petition by the cab drivers, which was filed through advocate Vivek Shukla, will be mentioned tomorrow (August 26) before the Chief Justice for urgent directions, Bar and Bench reported. It seeks an immediate stay on the government notification to prevent challenges to nearly 9.65 lakh drivers across Maharashtra. The plea submitted by the four cab drivers argues that the rule regarding compulsory knowledge of Marathi violates their fundamental rights under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom to carry on trade and profession) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. It says that the rule is ultra vires the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which does not prescribe any language requirement for driving licences, according to the Bar and Bench report.
“The parent Act (Motor Vehicles Act) confers no power upon the State Government to prescribe working knowledge of any language as a qualification for a driver, as a condition of a badge, or as a condition of a permit, and confers no power to suspend or revoke a badge on such a ground,” the petition states. It argues that the language rule “manufactures a new disqualification and a new ground of suspension” which had not been enacted by the Parliament. Commuters struggled to reach railway stations and their workplaces as autorickshaws refused to ply in Bandra, Kandivali, Govandi, Vakola, Kurla, Andheri and Santacruz, according to an earlier HT report .
