With the intention of charting their future course of action against soaring prices, transport union representatives from across the country, who met in Hubli recently, have decided to meet again on July 29 at Namakkal, near Salem in Tamil Nadu. Here they plan to conceive a nationwide agitation to draw attention to their grievances with regard to the hike in diesel prices, toll, tyres and third-party insurance.
Sparked off by the recent decision to hike diesel prices, the transporters have been planning an agitation to protest against the government’s ‘arbitrary decisions’. The government, they feel, has left them to fend for themselves.
The transporters are now demanding a roll back in prices. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) President, Mr G. R. Shanmugappa, said that a decision on the dates for launching agitations in Maharashtra and South India, the two regions worst hit by the recurring rise in diesel prices, would be taken in Salem.
Mr Sunil B. Kale, General Secretary of Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA), pointed out that the recent hike in diesel prices by around Rs 4 per litre (including taxes) would force transporters to go in for a steep hike in freight rates, considering that diesel makes up for over 60 per cent of the cost of operating a vehicle.
Consequently, he says, the trade and industry would be forced to raise the prices of goods and services, which, in turn, would push up inflation further, hindering the efforts of the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to rein in inflation and commodity prices.
Source : Exim News Service - Mumbai, July 26