Truckers set to intesify stir

Speaking to DTNext on Sunday, the fourth day of the indefinite strike pressing for various demands which began on Thursday, State Lorry Owners Federation-Tamil Nadu (SLOF-TN) president M R Kumarasamy said, “We have exempted only milk, water tankers and medicines from the indefinite strike. Over 75 per cent of the truckers in the state have gone off the road in support of the strike.” 

He claimed that prices of vegetables have shot up and major markets in the state were already runny short of supplies. 

Taking a dig at the Transport Minister and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy, he said “The state government is more concerned about the R K Nagar by-poll than bringing the strike to an end. This will reflect in by-poll results as residents of Chennai have already started feeling the effects of the strike.”  

Transport Minister M R Vijayabaskar has invited the trucker’s representatives for a meeting to find a solution to the issue on Monday. The Tamil Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has invited representatives of the South India Motor Transport Association (SIMTA), which gave the call for the indefinite strike, to Hyderabad on the same day to discuss on reducing the third-party insurance premium hike. 

This is the second time the state government has called the truckers for talks to find a solution for issues such as exempting old vehicles from installing speed governors, revoking the hike in various charges at RTO offices and rolling back the recent VAT hike on diesel. 

“We did not get any favourable response from the government during the first round of talks on Wednesday. We will intensify the strike if the talks fail again on Monday,” Kumarasamy said. 

Meanwhile, truckers’ representatives said they would take to the roads and stage agitations from Monday if the government does not find solutions to their problems. They also warned of strict action against those truckers who were not taking part in the strike.

Extending their support to the ongoing truckers strike in the state, Southern Region Bulk LPG Transport Operators Association (SRBLPGTOA) will suspend operations for a day on Monday. “Over 4,000 bullet tankers will take part in the token strike. If the talks between trucker’s representatives and government fails, SRBLPGTOA will convene a meeting on Monday evening to decide the next course of action,” M Ponnambalam, president of the association told DTNext .