Bus services were affected at Cuttack’s Badambadi bus stand and commuters were seen stranded as over 4 lakh drivers joined the day-long “quit steering” protest on Wednesday to press for 10-point charter of demands.
Most private buses and autorickshaws remained off the road on Wednesday causing problems for matric examinees and people commuting to work. However, the strike call failed to affect the movement of trucks on the state and national highways.
The agitators alleged that Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu gave them false assurance as a meeting between them remained inconclusive the previous day. While urging the drivers not to hold the protest and cause inconvenience to the public, the minister had also assured them that a committee will be constituted to look into their demands, which includes pension after 60 years of age, death benefits, insurance, security, parking and toilet facility.
Many agitators were seen staging demonstrations at Tomando in Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur Chhak in Cuttack, Soro in Balasore, Ainthapally in Sambalpur and several other places across the state. However, the demonstrations were peaceful as no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state.
The Driver Ekata Mahamancha members have resorted to strike in support of their 10-point charter of demand, including social security.
Meanwhile, the state government has urged the agitating drivers to call off the indefinite strike as their demands were under active consideration. Minister of Commerce and Transport Tukuni Sahu held a meeting with the Mahamancha members on Tuesday and requested them to call off the strike in view of the Matriculation, Plus II and Polytechnic examinations in the state.
However, the Mahamancha was not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and decided to go ahead with the strike.
Keeping the situation in view of this, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena on Tuesday held a meeting with top officials to review the situation. All district officials have been directed to provide the necessary support to other transport associations that are not joining the strike and are willing to operate their services.
