Mumbai: The Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA) on Tuesday organised a protest at Masjid Bunder as the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) stir entered its fifth day.
Around 200 workers and members of the association joined the protest march, as the Rapid Action Force (RAF) kept watch. Addressing the gathering, BGTA president Vijay Rawal said, “We are law-abiding citizens and therefore will not indulge in any form of violence or disruption to get the governments attention. Though the government has not yet given us any form of response we can just keep moving forward and make them see what needs to be addressed.”
Mr. Rawal said road transportation is the backbone of Indian industry as they are the highest taxpayers, and their work has to be done in time for the sector to grow. However, the current phase in which the industry is finding itself in is affecting the lives of over 50,000
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The association said that it has been trying to draw the government’s attention towards various issues like the abnormal daily diesel price hike, Non-transport Toll Policy, annual hike in third-party insurance premium, GST and E-Way bill issues, corruption, harassment on the roads by RTOs and police etc. “Due to these circumstances, transporters are facing a backlash from all the directions. The burden of the taxes and penalties are more than what they are actually earning, which has caused a greater problem,” Mr. Rawal claimed.
He added, “We are ready to pay the government for development and maintenance, but we are struggling because of the policies, which need to be rectified. We understand that the price of diesel can change, but the daily hike has made it difficult for us. Also, this is leading to a waste of our resources and manpower.”