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Call of the strike

INSTEAD OF HOLDING the nation to ransom and causing so much inconvenience to the public, besides hurting the economy badly, the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) should first call off the strike and begin negotiations with various Ministries and State Governments on its list of demands. True, the truckers may have some genuine problems and face harassment at various points. But that is no justification to penalise the people and deny them the normal flow of essential commodities and services. Over the past five days, enough damage has been done to the economy and untold hardship caused to producers, traders and consumers alike. And in the bargain, the transport operators have gained nothing, except the ire of the common man. Their own drivers and their families have gone without wages and so have lakhs of casual labourers who are dependent on the loading and unloading of goods at various points. All of them have been denied their daily bread. It has been estimated that about 30 lakh commercial vehicles have been off the roads, inflicting a loss of about Rs. 1,500 crores a day on the truckers. Industry and trade have lost something like Rs. 20,000 crores daily during this strike. The demands are so exhaustive that no single Ministry can negotiate with the AIMTC and find solutions. The truckers want to be out of VAT, they do not want to pay any tolls or the diesel cess, they resent the fortnightly revision in the prices of petroleum products (diesel for them), they want the insurance premium for third party coverage to be slashed, and they are opposed to the `green tax' as well as the phasing out of aged vehicles.

At least three rounds of talks, one of them at the ministerial level, have failed to break the deadlock. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways seems inclined to accept some of the demands and take up the other issues with the related Ministries — Finance and Petroleum for instance. But it is obvious there can be no immediate solution. Since some of the State Governments are also involved, there can be no settlement across the table. Under these circumstances, the best way forward would be to set up a panel with representatives from various Ministries and a few States, on the one hand, and the AIMTC, on the other, to continue the search for solutions. But meanwhile, the strike must be called off and normal services resumed. The truckers, who complain about the rising diesel prices, which add to their costs and which they are not always able to pass on to the customer, must also concede that they have never bothered to lower the rates when diesel prices fall. Similarly, there can be no excuse for the operation of such old vehicles, which pollute the environment. The concept of a `green tax' for aging vehicles and the need to phase out those which are over 15 years have to be accepted.

The truckers will do well to just look around and assess the damage they have caused to themselves, their employees, producers and manufacturers around the country, the common man and indeed, the economy as a whole. There can be no justification for the continuance of the strike. The loss of crores worth of perishables every day, the struggle of the people for vegetables and fuel for instance, the anxiety of exporters and importers, the helplessness of the ports and the Railways and the impact on a sluggish economy have to be reckoned with. The Centre should not succumb to this kind of `blackmail' by the truckers and must make it clear that the AIMTC must first call off the strike and then begin negotiations to solve their problems. If the strike continues and intensifies, the State Governments will have to step in and ensure normal operations. They cannot afford to distance themselves from the strike on the grounds that the demands pertain to the Central Government. It is the people who are suffering and for no fault of theirs.

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