Tamil Nadu: Seeking rental hike, lorry owners begin indefinite stir

TIRUCHY: Lorry owners who operate services to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) commenced an indefinite strike in Thanjavur on Monday.

The owners are demanding an increase in rental amount for the vehicles and controlling the middlemen menace in transportation.

The TNCSC has been controlling the godowns and DPCs, and the department outsources trucks for transporting paddy from the DPCs to the godowns and from there to the rice mills and thereafter to other districts by train.

It is said that the lorry transport tender has been provided to a private firm, which has arranged sub-contracts in all the districts.

According to the lorry owners, as per the rental agreement, the contractors are entitled to provide Rs 598 per 7 km with a 10 per cent annual increment. However, the lorry owners said that they are provided just Rs 320, and the annual rental increase is not there.

“Since our repeated appeals to follow the rental agreement failed, we found no option but to go on an indefinite strike,” said M Sundaravel, president of lorry owners’ association.

Sundaravel further said that there are around 1,200 lorries being operated for TNCSC for the godowns functioning at Pillayarpatti, Chennampatti, Nanjikottai and Punalkulam.

“As we are given only Rs 320 against the rental agreement, we find it very difficult to face the routine expenses including diesel, toll plaza fare and the repair works,” said Sundaravel.

He also said that the association had approached the officials several times, but no prompt response from them, and so they opted to go on indefinite strike. He also warned that the TNCSC activities would be affected a lot across the state.