By IANS,
Kolkata : Nearly 70 percent of trucks in West Bengal remained off the road, while none of the 15,000 trucks, scheduled to go out of the state daily, moved on the second day of the nationwide strike Tuesday.
The indefinite strike was called by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).
The Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators’ Associations (FWBTOA), the apex body of the state’s truck operators and an affiliate of the AIMTC, said 15,000 in-bound trucks from outside the state were allowed to unload both Monday and Tuesday.
“We are giving this relaxation till Wednesday when we will sit and discuss our next course of action,” FWBTOA general secretary Satyajit Majumdar told IANS.
“Seventy percent of the 325,000 trucks travelling intra-state remained still. The rest 30 percent carried agricultural and perishable commodities which have so far been kept outside the purview of the strike,” Majumdar said.
“Thus there is no shortage in the market. But in our meeting Wednesday we will review this aspect also,” he said.
Abolition of service tax, amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act and Carrier Act in tune with the ground realities and non-deduction of tax deduction at source during payments, are among the principal demands of the strikers.