The Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners’ Federation will not support the all India strike of the lorry operators called by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) from July 20.
President of the Federation Sella Rajamani told reporters here on Tuesday that all the 75,000 sand lorries will not participate in the strike and will ply as usual.
Mr. Rajamani said that his Federation supported the demands of the AIMTC of reducing fuel price, uniform national pricing with quarterly revision and removal of all toll plazas.
However, he said that the call for the strike was the benefit of some vested interests. A similar strike in 2015 did not bear any fruits. It badly affected the small operators who owned one or two lorries financially.
Mr. Rajamani said that the sand lorries due to the online booking procedure have to wait for about 40 days for getting a load of sand. The sand lorry owners are already suffering huge financial loss for the past few months.
G. R. Shanmugappa, south zone general secretary of the AIMTC, did not condemn the attack on the lorries bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers in his native Karnataka in the recent past. Hence, the sand lorries will not participate in the strike called by the AIMTC.
The Federation will consider supporting the strike, if it was under aegis of the State Lorry Owners Federation – Tamil Nadu, he said.
