It must be said that the taxi business in the state has been hit hard during the past two years due to the pandemic. The first and second wave of the novel coronavirus has seen a reduction in tourist footfall. Like other tourist related businesses, the taxi operators also had to go through a rough patch. Many of the taxi operators have probably bought the vehicles on bank loan and could be finding it difficult to pay the EMI. With the state assembly elections scheduled for next month, the taxi operators were expecting their vehicles to be hired for election duty. However, sadly this is not to be. It is learnt that outstation vehicles have been requisitioned for election duty in the state. The local taxi operators should have been given an opportunity to earn some revenue during the elections. If the rates of taxi operators in the state were found to be on the higher side or unreasonable, the same could have been negotiated with them instead of resorting to bringing taxis from other states. Even now some local taxi operators could be accommodated if more vehicles are needed for election duty.
