Truckers Strike Ends, Laws Put On Hold

#WATCH | Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla says, " We had a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives, govt want to say that the new rule has not been implemented yet, we all want to say that before implementing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 106/2, we will have… pic.twitter.com/14QXaVUg7t

Information pouring in from several states showed serpentine queues at petrol and diesel pumps in many cities, this was accompanied by panic purchasing of several essential items by people. The queues had started forming since the early hours on Tuesday morning. By evening the crowds had swelled and resulted in massive traffic snarls.

There were also reports of several state governments trying to ensure adequate supply of fuel across the cities and towns. Some state governments opted to ‘rationalise’ public transport bus routes, to cater to the people in the absence of the private bus operators.

The panic purchasing of essential items was in response to the fear that the strike would be prolonged, and the supply will be severely hit in the days to come. Many people also feared hoarding and that prices would soar in the days to come. Many also had to postpone their travel plans.

Such reports came in from Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu and Chandigarh etc.

On Tuesday evening, the Chandigarh administration had restricted the sale of fuel. A spokesperson of the Union Territory administration said, “In light of ongoing strike by drivers of fuel-tankers and restricted supply of Petrol & Diesel in UT Chandigarh, District Magistrate Chandigarh by orders has imposed temporary restriction on Petrol/Diesel sale at fuel stations in Chandigarh. Effective immediately, two-wheelers are limited to a maximum of 2 litres (maximum value of Rs 200) and four-wheelers are limited to 5 litres (maximum value of Rs 500) of fuel per transaction.

The imposed limitations are a proactive measure to ensure the availability of fuel for all during this period of temporary disruption of fuel supply. Fuel station operators are urged to comply with these regulations, and consumers are kindly requested to cooperate with the imposed restrictions.”

The District Magistrate had emphasised that this measure was a precautionary step to manage the current situation until normalcy is restored. Efforts were on to resume the supply of fuel to UT Chandigarh in coordination with Oil Marketing Companies and State of Punjab & Haryana.

While all this was going on The Citizen tried to understand the various dimensions of the issue from different perspectives. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) had aired apprehensions resulting from the new law on December 28. In a tweet addressed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIMTC had stated, “Sh @narendramodi ji, draconian legislation on hit & run cases under Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita has sent shockwaves among transport fraternity and the demoralised drivers are planning to shun this profession. This situation has turned volatile and may escalate unless taken back.”

“What is most pertinent here is that the law has been brought about without taking the transporters on board who are the main stakeholders here. It was announced on a day when the entire opposition stood suspended. Our fear is that the new provisions will be a tool in the hands of the black sheep among the law enforcing agencies to further harass the transporters,” Brij Mohan Chauhan who is a transporter in Himachal Pradesh, said.

His sentiment was echoed by the senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who had tweeted, “The insistence on making laws without discussion with the affected class and without dialogue with the opposition is a continuous attack on the soul of democracy.

“While more than 150 MPs were suspended, Shahenshah in Parliament enacted a law against drivers, the backbone of the Indian economy, which could have fatal consequences. Throwing this hard-working class with limited earnings into the harsh legal furnace can badly affect their lives.

“And also, misuse of this law can lead to 'recovery mechanisms' along with organised corruption. The government which runs democracy with the whip has forgotten the difference between 'emperor's orders' and 'justice'.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too made a scathing attack on the central government on the issue. He tweeted, “Modi Govt’s funding towards Infrastructure Projects is the lowest in 14 years. Even as the BJP wants to unjustly harass and penalise poor Truck Drivers through stringent laws, its Govt does not want to invest in new Infra creation, meant for the country’s progress. Their Loot and Lethargy go in tandem!

“Despite the fakery of hiking Capital Investment (Capex) in the previous budget, the value of new infrastructure projects funded by the Govt has declined by a whopping 81%, compared to last year. Even the value of Private Investment has declined by 78%, in the same period, indicating a non conducive environment.

“837 infra projects have been delayed since more than 3 years. 23% of the central sector infra projects have a cost overrun of a whopping Rs 4.31 Lakh Cr.

Modi Govt has a 3 pronged strategy -1. Penalise the poor and keep looting them. 2. Sell public assets, stop investment and stall growth. 3. Create PR propaganda, but deliver NOTHING! From BJP’s ‘Acche Din’ to ‘Amrita Kaal’, the road to stalling India’s progress has only imaginary milestones!”

The truck drivers, or for that matter drivers of private buses, taxis as well as others sympathising with them to whom this reporter reached out, also raised apprehensions. They said that hit-and-run cases are often “on account of the fault of the other party which also includes pedestrians” and added that other factors like bad roads, poor visibility conditions resulting from phenomenon like fog, smog, incessant rains or snow are also responsible for accidents.

A major point raised by them was that if a driver halts at the site of the accident there are always chances of him being lynched by the people in the vicinity. They referred to several such incidents in the past and even stated that on several occasions even the vehicles involved in the accidents were burnt.

“How do you expect a driver who earns between Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 per month to be able to pay a fine of Rs 7 lakh? For that he would have to sell off his ancestral land if he had any. In any case, if we had this kind of money why would we be working as drivers for a petty salary and driving against our biological clock.

“The general tendency that is visible across the country is that no matter who is at fault in case of an accident, it is always the one driving a heavy vehicle who is assumed to be guilty, and targeted by the local mobs who not only thrash the driver but quite often also loot the cargo being transported,” a truck driver from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh who had halted his vehicle in Mumbai said.

He added, “In Maharashtra the trucks that you see plying are those that are mid way in their long journeys trying to reach a destination. Rest have all halted. A large number of drivers have already left for their villages assuming that there is a thin chance of a resolution between the government and their representatives anytime soon.”

“Isn’t it sad that we had to strike work on the very first day of the year and face uncertainty? There is a lot of confusion. The matter needs to be resolved at the earliest,” Sulekh Chand, a functionary with a transport firm at Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh, said.

But Dr Kamal Soi who has been campaigning for road safety and was a part of the initiative to bring about the amendment to the existing law had a different take on the matter. “I fail to understand what the truck unions are cribbing about. There are 2,40,000 deaths on the roads in the country every year and about 30% of these are hit and run cases.

“The law is for the people who commit crime. The government feels that all such cases should be recorded and wants to go to the root cause of such cases so that they can be prevented. By running away from the site of the accident the driver involved also destroys the evidence besides leaving the victim at the mercy of God,” Soi said.

On the apprehensions regarding the fear of lynching, he said, “The driver can stop at a Police Station some distance away and report the accident. In that case he will be facing sections of the law that are other than the ones about the hit and run. Such sections provide for immediate bail also.

“The intention here is to help the victim. Besides the government has simultaneously made punishment for lynching much more stringent going up to life imprisonment and death penalty.”

Soi’s sentiment was echoed by some truck unions in Gujarat that sought that the government start interactions with transporters, vehicle owners and drivers on the issue to make them aware of the law while ensuring maintenance of law and order.

However, Narayan Dutt of Inqlabi Kendar Punjab explained that, “The truck drivers see the enhanced punishment as a death warrant given their low levels of income. The buzz about the strike was on for four days and the government refused to act and this has caused the panic buying of fuel and other material when the drivers went on strike.

“If the strike continues there will be hoarding and the people will be forced to purchase essentials at an inflated cost. One also needs to understand that the majority of the accidents are reported from roads in the rural areas that are small, narrow and poorly maintained and the drivers who operate on these roads hardly earn anything other than the harvest season. Secondly, it is now always the driver who is at fault.”

He also amplified the sentiment aired by several transporters about the possibility of a larger design to monopolise the transport sector in the interest of big corporate players.

Meanwhile, the Right Wing machinery was also quick to get into the act hurling slurs at the striking truck drivers and those supporting or sympathising with them. Whatsapp messages drawing parallels between the farmers’ movement against the three agriculture laws that were eventually withdrawn by the government, were circulating too.

These messages also described the protest as a “move to scuttle the celebrations ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya a few days from now”.