Taxi drivers go on begging drive

MARGAO – Foreign tourists catching the sun on the sands of Benaulim were witness to a novel and amusing form of protest on Monday, when tourist taxi
operators literally went begging for justice.

MARGAO – Foreign tourists catching the sun on the sands of Benaulim were witness to a novel and amusing form of protest on Monday, when tourist taxi
operators literally went begging for justice.

In a form of Gandhigiri, tourist taxi operators, holding placards denouncing the governmentโ€™s indifferent attitude to their grievances and holding a coconut shell (kotti) in their hands to serve as a begging bowl, approached foreign tourists at the beach.

While gleefully accepting the โ€˜almsโ€™ generously dropped into the begging bowl by the holidaying tourists, the group distributed handbills listing their demands pending with the government and highlighting the โ€œinjusticeโ€ meted out to them by tour operators.

The tourist taxi operators โ€œbeggedโ€ of the tourists โ€œto avoid fancy services and use local restaurants and shacksโ€. โ€œPlease use tourist taxi services which charge official government rates rather than the services of tour operators who charge exorbitant rates in dollars and pounds,โ€ the handbills distributed by the group said.

The taxi operators attempted to drive home their point that โ€œtourism had destroyed the livelihood of the locals without creating alternative employment opportunitiesโ€.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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