Trucks stuck at the Vashi APMC Truck terminal in Navi Mumbai .The All-India Motor Transport Congress called for an indefinite strike from Friday onwards, demanding lower diesel prices and reducing toll fees. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The All-India Motor Transport Congress called for an indefinite strike Friday, demanding lower diesel prices and reducing toll fees, a leader of the truckers’ umbrella organisation informed told PTI. The organisation claims to represent 93 lakh members and the announcement for the strike was formally declared Tuesday.
“We held a meeting with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari today but that was inconclusive. We are meeting finance minister Piyush Goyal at 2130 hrs today,” said Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the All-India Motor Transport Congress core committee.
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Trucks, including inter-state vehicles, were off the roads in Tamil Nadu as part of the strike, said C Dhanaraj, secretary, State Lorry Owners' Federation. 'Due to the strike, the state government will lose about Rs 100 crore a day in revenue while the truck operators would face a loss of about Rs three to four crore,' Dhanaraj told PTI.
As many as 4.5 lakh trucks were off the roads in Tamil Nadu since this morning as part of a nationwide indefinite strike called by truckers.
The movement of commercial vehicles was affected in many parts of Madhya Pradesh today on the first day of an indefinite strike of truckers.
According to a PTI report, Parvinder Singh Bhatia, president of Federation of Madhya Pradesh Motors and Goods Transport Association, claimed that 95 per cent of the state's around 25,000 transporters are participating in the strike.
Transport owners staged a protest during the strike called by the All Indian Motor Transport Congress, in Navi Mumbai. Truck owners and operators are demanding for a reduction in central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST so that price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced.
The transportation of essential commodities remained unaffected as truckers continued carrying them as usual. "We have sent 13 trucks of apples, capsicum, cauliflower and cabbage to Delhi, Okhla and Ghazipur from Theog in Shimla district today," vice-president of truck union Theog Sanju Bekta told PTI.
AHTOF chairman Vidhya Rattan also said that they had already decided to exempt essential commodities from the strike.
The All Himachal Truck Operators Federation (AHTOF) joined the nationwide strike. Around 85,000 trucks remained off road in the state as told by AHTOF chairman Vidhya Rattan to PTI.
Express photos by Amit Chakravarty
The School Bus and Company Bus Owners Association of Maharashtra have also extended their support to the nation-wide truckers strike. No less than 8,000 buses in Mumbai and 40,000 buses across Maharashtra are reported to be affiliated to the association. "All these buses will be off the roads today," Anil Garg, association president was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. He also informed that their decision to support the truckers is merely to show solidarity and will last until Friday.
The strike is reported to be seemingly more effective in the nations' financial capital- Mumbai and Maharashtra with a greater proportion of trucks staying off the roads right from 6 am Friday.
(Express Photo by Pradip Das)
Truckers are also provoked by the high insurance premia and demand a reduction in third-party premium, exemption on third-party premia from GST.
Additionally, they are also pressing for exemptions and abolitions in direct taxes and national permits for all buses and trucks.
Truckers' key demands include a cut down in Central and state taxes by getting diesel under the ambit of GST in order to reduce the price of the deregulated commodity.
AIMTC Secretary General Naveen Gupta informed PTI that the body decided to go on strike this morning because “talks with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal which continued till 1.30 am today remained inconclusive as nothing concrete was being offered.”
Gupta said, on Friday the body is scheduled to meet ministry officials concerned and earlier, transport minister Nitin Gadkari had sought three months time. “We are hopeful of some concrete solutions today,” Gupta was quoted as saying.
When contacted by PTI, an official close to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari's office informed that during the meeting, transporters were conveyed that instant solutions cannot be provided to the truckers' demands but assured them that the government is exploring options to consider the demands of the protesters.
The indefinite strike is estimated to cause a loss of Rs 4000 crore for the truckers, the protesting truckers' union chairman said. Also, it will hamper the supply of goods and is expected to affect transport across India.
"We held a meeting with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari today but that was inconclusive. We are meeting finance minister Piyush Goyal at 2130 hrs today," Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the All-India Motor Transport Congress core committee informed PTI.
The truckers are also protesting for exemptions and abolitions in direct taxes, national permits for all buses and trucks and also doing away with the direct port delivery tendering system, the chairman of the truckers' umbrella organisation informed.
Truckers' key demands include a reduction in Central and state taxes by getting diesel under the purview of Goods and Services GST so that price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced, said Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the All-India Motor Transport Congress core committee.