NAMAKKAL: Truck operators in the country called off their indefinite strike on the fifth day on Monday following negotiations with the Union Minister for Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari.
A deal was struck on the contentious issue of rationalising road toll fixation and collection system, which came under severe attack from truckers.
“We reached an agreement during the talks we had with the Minister. He accepted all our demands and assured to fulfil them,” GR Shanmugappa, former president of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), told Express over phone.
The Minister assured the representatives of the truckers’ body (AIMTC), that a high-level committee would be constituted to look into all their demands.
Shangmugappa said, “The Road Transport Minister promised to form a committee to look into the issues we raised and sort them out.”
In addition a deadline was also set to resolve the issues raised, he added.
“We were assured of the issues being addressed, and a new mechanism put in place to determine the road toll by December 25,” Shanmugappa added.
The AIMTC delegation which took part in the talks included its president Bhim Wadva and Shanmugappa. Shanmugappa announced that regular cargo transportation operations would resume immediately.
The strike, which entered the fifth day on Monday, had crippled movement of goods in several States.
Besides this, the strike led to incur a huge loss to the government exchequer. The truckers also had to lose revenue due to the stir.