A rickshaw puller is a poor man. He toils hard for the whole day, from morning till late at night. His life is hard. He earns his livelihood by driving a rickshaw. He pulls the rickshaw in scorching sun, at chill winter nights and even in heavy rains. He is a useful member of our society. His service is in equal demand in cities, towns, villages, and metros. It is the rickshaw puller who takes us to those places where other means of transportation are not accessible. He belongs to the poor class of our society and serves to humanity in extreme weather conditions also. He is ready to give his service all the time. A rickshaw puller leads a very hard life. He earns little to meet two square meals a day for his family. He never cares for his health and pulls his rickshaw for maximum hours in a day. Apart from carrying persons or persons, he carries goods like vegetables, tea and other things in the form of packed or unpacked bundles.
Nowadays some rickshaw pullers are seen engaged in carrying school children. It gives them a permanent income. And what is more, they get a change in their hard life in the company of small children. In this advanced age, when there are various transport facilities, rickshaw pulling is still in existence on a mass level. Pulling of human beings by a man is a curse upon society. Hence, rickshaw pullers must be given full support from the Government in the form of loans so that they may purchase auto-rickshaw or may start some other business thus, they will be able to earn more money by comparatively less manual labor. It will also make their family life a little bit more comfortable. They will be able to educate their children in order to make them worthy citizens of the country.
We must feel the rickshaw puller’s misery and be a little more lenient towards him. If we don’t pay him more than the real wage, it’s alright. But we should never underestimate his labor.
