Arya News - Operating a cycle rickshaw demands significant physical effort while offering relatively low daily earnings, making it unattractive to younger people.
KOLKATA – Once the backbone of short-distance travel, pedal rickshaws are slowly getting substituted by e-rickshaws, leaving only a handful of elderly drivers behind in Bengal’s Hooghly district, located at the western bank of the Hooghly River, just north of Kolkata.
Rickshaw pullers across the suburban towns of the district are facing a severe economic squeeze and intense structural transition as traditional cycle-rickshaws fade out to make way for battery-operated e-rickshaws, popularly known as totos in Bengal.
In prominent commuter hubs like Uttarpara, Konnagar, Serampore, Chinsurah, Chandannagar, and Singur, rickshaw operators struggle with a combination of strict government crackdowns, heavy market competition, and rising operating costs.
The shift has been so stark that no one from the younger generation has taken up the profession. It is now sustained almost entirely by the elderly.
Operating a cycle rickshaw demands significant physical effort while offering relatively low daily earnings, making it unattractive to younger people. It is also slower compared to modern alternatives.
Speaking to The Statesman, Arun Chakrabarty, Ranjit Ram and some other rickshaw pullers from Serampore and Rishra said, “For the last 50 years, we have been pedalling rickshaws. Nearly a decade ago, rickshaw pulling provided enough income to meet all the needs and demands of our families.”
“It is still fresh in my memory that every locality had a rickshaw stand where more than 20 rickshaws waited for their turn to get customers. Every day, we earned an average of Rs 600. But the introduction of e-rickshaws in an uncontrollable manner robbed us of our livelihood. At present, we can hardly earn Rs 200 per day,” they described.
The amount is too little to support a family of four or more members, they lamented, adding that they have no bank savings and that no bank is ready to provide them with a loan to purchase e-rickshaws. They urged the state government to assist them in starting a new means of livelihood.