Autorickshaw drivers are on strike
Posted on: 30/Apr/2015 12:30:05 PM
To show their opposition to the proposed Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014 Autorickshaw drivers have decided to extend their support to the nationwide one-day strike on April 30.
Around 20,000 of the 71,000 autos in Chennai are likely to be off the road on Thursday. All 11 auto driver unions in the city are participating in the strike. Despite their frequent run-ins with regional transport officers, auto drivers said they preferred RTOs to central government agencies.
If the Bill is passed then there will not be any automobile mechanic, spare parts shops. The Draft Bill proposes heavy penalties for traffic violations. It envisages penalties along with a minimum seven-year imprisonment in case of an accident. The bill will affect the daily life of the people.
The day-long strike has been called jointly by national-level road transport organisations -- representing both public and private sector workers -- which are affiliated to central trade unions like All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), BMS, INTUC, HMS, AICCTU, LPF and State-level outfits.
AITUC alleged that the NDA dispensation`s plan to go ahead with the Bill was aimed at helping it take over the transport sector from the State governments. The move smacks of a kind of `authoritarianism` and is an `attack` on federalism, it said.
