By IANS,
Kolkata : In a bid to pressure the West Bengal government to increase bus and taxi fares, Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, one of the largest bus operators of state, Friday decided to go on an indefinite strike from Sep 17.
“We have no other option other than an indefinite strike as we can’t run buses after this sharp rise in diesel prices. Most of the buses have already stopped plying,” said Sadhan Das of the bus syndicate.
The strike will lead to 35,000 buses across Bengal going off the roads, out of which 6,500 will be in Kolkata alone.
The union government Thursday hiked diesel prices by Rs.5 a litre and capped supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders to six per family per year. The decisions came into effect midnight Thursday.
Bengal Taxi Association vice-president Suman Guha said his organisation has decided to call a three-day token strike from Sep 20 to 23.
“If the state government decides to increase the fares then it is alright, otherwise we will go for an indefinite strike,” Guha said.