The Supreme Court has delivered a strong indictment of the hand-pulled rickshaw system still operating in Maharashtra’s Matheran hill station, describing the practice as “inhuman” and a stain on India’s progress towards social and economic justice.
This decision comes as Matheran, a popular eco-sensitive tourist destination in the Western Ghats, remains off-limits to automobiles, leaving human-powered rickshaws as a principal mode of transport for visitors, TOI reported.
During a hearing on Wednesday, a bench consisting of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria reflected on India’s constitutional ideals and sharply questioned the endurance of such exploitative practices.
“It is really unfortunate that even after 45 years of the Supreme Court judgment on cycle-rickshaw pullers of Punjab, the inhuman practice of one human ferrying another on hand-pulled rickshaws is prevalent (in Matheran),” Chief Justice Gavai stated in his judgement.
The court’s comments, cited by TOI, drew a direct link between the continued use of hand-pulled rickshaws and a “betrayal” of the Constitution’s promise of “social and economic justice”.
The bench emphasised the duty of the Maharashtra government to ensure dignity of livelihood for rickshaw pullers and referenced the successful e-rickshaw scheme operating near Gujarat’s Sardar Patel statue at the Sardar Sarovar dam.
There, over 150 e-rickshaws have empowered tribal women, who rent the vehicles for a daily fee, enabling them to earn a respectable living by ferrying tourists.
Calling for a transformative change, the top court has given Maharashtra six months to develop and introduce a similar scheme in Matheran.
The directive is unequivocal: the government must identify all those dependent on hand-pulled rickshaws, ensuring that genuine and needy individuals receive first access to the new e-rickshaw fleet.
Any outstanding vehicles may be allocated to tribal women living in the region, broadening the circle of economic empowerment.
Importantly, the Supreme Court also tasked the Raigad district collector, whose jurisdiction covers Matheran, with rooting out middlemen and preventing the misuse or profiteering that has historically accompanied such transitions.
The bench issued a stern warning that non-availability of funds would not be accepted as a reason to delay or dilute the rollout of the e-rickshaw scheme, as per TOI. This strong messaging reaffirms the judiciary’s stance that fundamental rights and social progress must not be undermined by administrative inertia or financial excuses.
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