Lorry owners call off stir

The Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association, which earlier in the day had stated that the strike would continue as the Centre failed to meet the demands, later said that a settlement was reached towards evening.

“The strike has been called off and we’ll go back to work,” B Chenna Reddy, president of the Association, said. He, however, expressed his ignorance about the details of the settlement which was arrived at between the ministry and the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).

G R Shanmugappa, secretary, AIMTC, was not available for comment. The truckers’ demands include withdrawal of the 135 per cent hike in toll on the national highways, the 68 per cent increase on third-party assurance, and the 30 per cent hike on tyre prices. In addition, they demanded uniform diesel prices across South India.

It was, however, not going to be easy for the truckers to strike work indefinitely. With many festivals round the corner, they too were feeling the pinch. No work meant repaying bank loans would be difficult. Also, expenses towards insurance premiums and salaries of drivers and cleaners were posing problems to the truckers.

The common people, too, felt the pressure, as prices of essential commodities started going up. Consequently, a few truckers had withdrawn the strike without the consent of the Association. The cracks among the protesters were evident.

The truckers were in talks with A K Upadhyay, secretary, the National Transport Authority and Nitin Gokarn, joint secretary, for the last four days. While the officials asked for three months to look into the demands, the truckers wanted a written assurance within a week.