General secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI), Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the lorry strike and take steps to end it since it was hampering the movement of essential commodities badly.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the CPI leader said the truck owners’ strike across the country for the last five days had caused serious problems in the transport of essential commodities and foodgrain resulting in price rise. Besides, vegetables, flowers and other farm produce would also be perished causing huge financial loss to the farming community who raised the crop.
He explained that agricultural markets were also closed across the country due to lorry and truck owners’ strike. Abnormal increase of the insurance premium charges on trucks and other transport vehicles and huge increase of licence fee and penalties on all vehicles, including taxies and auto-rickshaws, had also caused heartburn among the sections concerned and led to strike.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy demanded that the increase in premium, licence fee and other penalties be withdrawn totally and negotiations be held with truck owners’ associations to end the strike.
