Transporters defer strike; meeting today

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: All Jammu and Kashmir Transporters Welfare Committee – an amalgam of various transport associations- on Tuesday deferred by a day its indefinite strike which was scheduled to begin from Wednesday.
General Secretary, Kashmir Welfare Transporters Association, Sheikh Muhammad Yusuf, stated that a meeting is scheduled on February 24 afternoon with Finance Commissioner, Finance Department, who is chairman of Fare and Freight Committee also comprising Transport commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu division.
“Our representatives held a meeting with officials in Jammu and in principle they accepted our demands as genuine,” he said. “In wake of the development we have decided to defer our strike by one day and if nothing concrete comes up after meeting (with financial Commissioner), then our indefinite strike shall begin from February 25.”
The association has demanded revision of the transport fares amidst the skyrocketing of the petroleum prices during the past few years. “In such a situation, transporters have no other option than to go for an indefinite strike to press for fare revision,” Sheikh said. The Association also demanded roll back of tax for the lockdown months. All type of commercial vehicles including buses, trucks, tankers, mini-buses, Sumos/ Taxies/ Tempo-Travelers, Auto-rikshaws etc. shall remain off the road from Lakhanpur (Punjab border) to Uri in Kashmir if the indefinite strike takes effect, they said. “Government will be responsible for inconvenience to the general public,” the association has maintained.
The association said to have submitted the cost of operation in the office of Transport Commissioner for revision in passenger fare because the rate of petroleum products has been increasing day-by-day. “Passenger fare was revised in April 2018, then the rate of diesel was Rs 65 a litre but now the rate of Diesel is more than Rs 84, which is not bearable for transporters in J&K,” the members of JKTWC said.