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This is an archive article published on January 9, 2022
Punjab CM Channi reinstates disbanded truck unions in state
Sources said that the orders regarding the reinstatement have been received by various truck union leaders and were signed by the Punjab Chief Minister on January 7.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi (File)
Ahead of the Punjab state elections and four years after they had been disbanded, the Punjab government has reinstated the truck unions of the state, which had been a long-pending demand of various quarters.
Sources said that the orders regarding the reinstatement have been received by various truck union leaders and were signed by the Punjab Chief Minister on January 7. records show that the truck unions had been disbanded by this Congress government on July 21, 2017, under then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
In the letter issued to the truck union leaders, it was mentioned that a three-member committee needs to be set up which will look into their demands and solve their issues. The three members on the committee would include the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), who will the chairman of the committee, an officer from the state industries department, and a member of the truck union.
Deputy Commissioners of respective districts have been made appellate authorities in case of disputes.
Truck operators, under the banner of All India Punjab Truck Operators Union, had organized several protests in the past four years demanding their reinstatement and blaming Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal for not allowing the same. These unions had even threatened the government with serious consequences if their demands were not heeded.
On Saturday, Happy Sandhu, president of the Truck Operators’ Union said that that they welcomed this decision of the government and were thankful to CM Charanjit Channi.
The state government had in 2017 approved the Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules) 2017, according to which good carriage operators were barred from making unions in the state. The government then had claimed that this decision was taken to end the mafia of goods transporters who had cartelised the truck business with political influence and were obstructing the free and fair movement of goods transport.
There are around 95,000 trucks that operate in the state. Most of them ply within Punjab during the harvest season of wheat and paddy crops and transport the grains from mandis to government godowns.
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