Cops and Corruption in Jamshaedpur

Life is not easy if you are an "autowala" in Jamshedpur. The auto drivers are facing constant harassment in the name of traffic control in the steel city. They are being deprived or rather robbed off a fraction of their earnings by the men in khaki.

Anybody who commutes around the city in an auto must have witnessed those lathi-wielding cops and that quick pocketing of money. The drivers pay the money to escape the wrath of the lathi that is sure to fall on them for breaking the rule of picking passengers from around the area of Sakchi boulevard which is a no-parking area. Of course, this rule only applies to those drivers who do not pay up. The drivers who pay the cop are allowed to get away with it. So basically there are two different rules for two different drivers. To people around, the sight is so common that nobody raises an eyebrow. In fact people like to board a "running auto" (i.e, one picking passengers from the road) rather than kill hours at the auto-stand where drivers wait for passengers to fill every available seat. Sometimes that takes about two minutes and sometimes the waiting can last for half an hour or more. The cops, rather than implementing the rules strictly, take advantage of that and try to make some quick bucks. Needless to say, neither the police nor are the drivers innocent and taint-free. One breaks the rule and the other gleefully looks the other way in exchange for some money.

This, however, isn't the only way the policemen harass the auto drivers. The cops have developed the habit of taking free rides in autos which makes every driver flee at the sight of them. No wonder the cops have become the biggest menace for the auto drivers in Jamshedpur. The policemen shamelessly abuse their powers to gain undue privileges at the cost of other people. This practice of blatant corruption and breaking of law needs to be bridled as soon as possible.