Date:18/04/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/04/18/stories/2003041805010100.htm

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Talks with truckers fail

By P.K. Bhardwaj

Truck drivers taking rest at the Lahori Gate railway goods shed in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: S. Arneja

NEW DELHI APRIL 17. The chances of an early end to the nationwide truckers strike were dashed following the failure of the talks between the Government and a delegation of the All- India Motor Transport Congress today.

After the crucial meeting between the truckers' delegation and the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highway, B.C. Khanduri, lasting an hour, the AIMTC chief, B.N. Dhumal, said the talks had failed and the strike was continuing.

"Our talks with Mr. Khanduri did not make much headway. The Minister did not give any assurance on any of our 10 demands and so we will continue the indefinite nationwide strike till our demands are met," Mr. Dhumal told reporters. However, there were indications of another round of talks in the near future.

The strike, which entered the fourth day today, has already seen a surge in the prices of fruits and vegetables in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh and Karnataka. There have also been reports of marginal disruption in the supply of petroleum products in some States.

It is feared that the situation might worsen in case the truckers carry out their threat to enlarge the scope of the agitation and refuse to lift even essential items from April 19, a deadline announced for resolving the issues raised by them. For the present, essential items including milk fall in the category of goods exempt from the strike.

Mr. Dhumal said their demands, which include putting an end to frequent hikes in diesel prices, immunity from a planned value added tax, repeal of an order to scrap 15-year-old trucks and fixing of minimum freight rates, also concerned the Union Finance and Petroleum Ministries and States and a resolution could only be found if a meeting of all these was called immediately.

Mr. Khanduri chose not comment on the outcome of the talks and the only observation that he made was that the talks would continue. He is understood to have reiterated his Ministry's position as explained to the delegation at their earlier meetings with the officials. Neither the Minister nor Mr. Dhumal indicated any timeframe for the second round of talks since no such date was fixed.

The AIMTC president said he requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to explain the "harassment" by State Governments in the name of toll and entry tax collection.

"Only a meeting with the Prime Minister where all Chief Ministers, Union Finance and Petroleum Ministers are called, could find a solution to the problems truckers are facing,'' Mr. Dhumal said The AIMTC secretary-general, J.M. Saksena, said: "there was no commitment from either side. In the absence of any commitment, we have decided not to withdraw the strike."

Alleging that the Government made no offer during the talks, Mr. Dhumal said: "let them make an offer first (for the AIMTC to withdraw the strike)."

The AIMTC office-bearers said that though truckers were not covered under the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) regime, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were using certain VAT provisions to levy entry tax.

Stating that Mr. Khanduri offered the truckers only "lollypops" and no assurances, they said the striking truckers had already met the BJP general-secretary, Pramod Mahajan, on the issue.

In a related development, Mr. Mahajan met the Prime Minister and discussed the demands of the truckers.