RTC employees firm on national strike in March

Demanding a rollback of the controversial Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014, employees of State Road Transport Corporations from across the country are planning to hold a national strike in the first week of March.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, general secretary of KSRTC Staff and workers Federation H.V. Ananthasubba Rao said that the proposed Bill, if passed in Parliament, would be a death warrant for State-owned road transport corporations across the country.

Rethinking

Mr. Rao alleged that the BJP-led NDA government was trying to push the bill Bithout holding an elaborate public debate on it. Mr. Rao said that it was necessary for lawmakers to seriously to think about the fate of State transport undertakings, if the bill was passed in the present form.

“If passed, the Bill would allow enormous and unhealthy competition on the road, which subsequently increases the number of accidents,” he said.

He said that the Bill was another move to allow private operators to make profit at the cost of public sector transport undertakings and commuters.

“So all the trade unions have informed the government about the strike, ” he said.

Demand

The main demands of the federation are that Chapter 6 of the existing Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 should be retained and the present classification of stage and contract carriage should be retained as it is, in the new Bill.

Unions’ view

Trade unions are of the opinion that the State government should have the right to collect taxes in respect of motor vehicles and penalty clause should be scrapped. They are against giving powers to private institutions to inspect vehicles and issue eligibility and fitness certificates.

‘Rollback Road Transport and Safety Bill’

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