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Drivers Day, a day marked by observations across the state to pay respects to the drivers who ply on the treacherous National Highways of the state is a grim reminder of the travails they face on the road. Left to fend for themselves in inhospitable terrain and remote pockets of the state, drivers on the highways have not been given their due share of respect or recognition. Driving long distances day in and day out can never be described as the best way to live one’s life but for these drivers who does this exactly, the people of Manipur would be struggling to get the bare essentials of life. Given the land locked nature of the state, the highways are the only option for bringing in a host of basic commodities that people need in the span of a day: starting from rice itself. They face innumerable challenges brought upon by the volatile political environment in the state and are often caught in between various state and non state armed groups ranging from physical violence and harassment, looting, arson against the vehicles they drive, wrongful confinement, extortion and even death.
Sadly, there is little by way of protection for the drivers of the state who ply on the Highways except by way of a few compensation cases where the Government has stepped in. But this has been too far and between and have happened only when the cases have taken place during phases of political turmoil of the state. There are no protection mechanisms for the families of the drivers who happen to die because of accidents. The lack of a state mechanism and policy is the main factor aided by the fact that private agencies and owners of the vehicles do not have support systems like giving insurance covers for the drivers. At the society level, there is a total lack of respect for drivers leave alone acknowledging their contribution in the economy and the very nature of the existence of society itself.
People who make a living by driving on highways have the worst in terms of their work hours and their social and family lives. Driving for long hours, they are mostly prone to falling prey to back pains and body aches while being away from their wives or sexual partners make them prone to paid sex leading to chances of getting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. The incidence of truck drivers getting into paid unprotected sex caused enough concern for the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to develop and put into practice intervention programs aimed at this section, which is also categorized as a ‘high risk group’. The adverse effects of long term driving hours on highways are common for everyone. But drivers in Manipur face additional hardships of being stranded for days on end if they happen to be caught in the midst of a sudden bandh or blockade on the highways. The absence of safe places to stay during the course of their journeys is another sore point.
But mostly, most of us tend to ignore the contributions of the highway drivers who ferry goods and passengers from this state to the rest of the region and the country and vice versa. Getting into a token ‘Driver Day’ observation will only be an act of gross injustice if there are no real term solutions and support systems for these drivers, who namelessly serve the people of the state till they die one day and their picture gets garlanded and floral tributes given. Every occasion of the ‘Driver’s Day’ in Manipur marked by floral tributes and recollections of hardships inevitably get stuck with the demand for the Imphal-Jiribam Highway to be completed. Time and again, different agencies including the Government itself, makes announcements and promises that still remain unfulfilled and forgotten till the next big political crisis in the stare happens leading to another blockade of the highways, another bandh and another lot of drivers harassed, stranded and injured. With rumblings over a not so smooth political environment in the state ahead, it would be wise to make the day for drivers by gearing up seriously on completing that Highway.
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