In view of the rising Covid-19 infection rates, the BRTA on Wednesday banned the operation of motorcycles under ride-sharing services to ensure health safety guidelines and social distancing are not compromised. The ban on ride-sharing services stripped over one lakh bikers of the means of livelihood. The ban will continue until further notice.
Bikers protested at several points in the city against banning of their means of livelihood. During the pandemic, a lot of private service-holders who lost jobs took to ride-sharing as a means earning to support their families. A former RMG floor manager, who lost the job during lockdown last year and now a biker said the decision is not just bad, it literally pushes his family to starve. Another said he used to earn around Tk 1,000 working for 12 hours on the road daily but has nothing in savings to meet his family expenses now. According to 2019 data that different ride-sharing companies submitted to the BRTA, there were some 1.23 lakh cars and motorcycles associated with different companies. Of them, 1.04 lakh were motorcycles. BRTA sources said another 23,493 vehicles were enlisted with the BRTA to operate under the ride-sharing arrangement. Of those 80 per cent are motorcycles.
Saving lives from the pandemic is no doubt urgent. But the government cannot ignore its responsibility to find livelihood for those who lose jobs for restrictions forced on them by the pandemic. It is easy to make people jobless but no government can feel unconcerned for the unemployed.
