Protests continue in the Northeast against new hit-and-run rules; tourist taxi drivers start 48-hour strike in Meghalaya

Bhaskar Deb, general secretary of the Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Association, said the Greater Guwahati Tourist Taxi Association, among others, requested them to participate in the strike.

State-run transport operators like the Meghalaya Transport Corporation, however, have decided to continue night services between Shillong and Guwahati.

Meanwhile, many private and commercial vehicles were off the roads in Assam as part of the three-day strike called by the Assam Motor Worker Associations’ Joint Platform. Platform leader Ramen Das told media persons that the new laws allow the government to hold drivers alone responsible for road accidents.

In Tripura, oil tanker drivers protested at Dharmanagar in North Tripura district. “The Union government should have thought about the families of drivers. Nobody can guarantee that a vehicle
will never meet any accident, not even the makers of the vehicles themselves. No driver wilfully kills anyone. We held a one-day cease-work in protest against this law,” said one of the protesters.

Earlier this month, members of the Tripura Private Transport Mazdoor MahaSangh, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate, blocked National Highway-8 demanding the withdrawal of the law.

Meanwhile, CITU-affiliate All India Road Transport Workers Federation held protests against the new hit-and-run rules in Agartala on Thursday.

As per the BNS that is set to replace the 163-year-old Indian Penal Code (IPC), drivers could face imprisonment of up to 10 years for fleeing and not reporting a fatal accident. However, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways assured drivers that the rules would be implemented after consultations with all stakeholders.