Date:10/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/10/stories/2009011055431200.htm

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Some of truckers’ demands reasonable: Advani

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday expressed concern over the impact of the truckers’ strike on the people and also the future of some 53,000 employees of Satyam Computer Services, rocked by a Rs.7000-crore fraud.

Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani urged the government to urgently negotiate with the striking truckers while pointing out that the disruption in supplies of essential food items and goods resulted in a 30-50 per cent increase in their prices.

Mr. Advani said some of the demands of the truckers were “reasonable.” While aviation fuel prices had been revised downwards several times over the last several months, the price of diesel was cut by a mere Rs. 2 a litre.

On the Satyam scandal, senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi demanded that a central regulatory agency probe the Satyam fraud from all angles, including the roles played by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Income Tax Department, stock exchanges and the firm auditing Satyam.