Headlines
Millions hit across India as buses, taxis stay off road
Kolkata/Chandigarh/Thiruvananthapuram, April 30
Millions of people across India faced a harrowing time on Thursday as
buses and taxis did not ply to protest a bill that makes punishment for
traffic violations much more stringent.
Passengers were left
stranded at railway stations in various cities as public transport went
off the road. People were forced to trudge with heavy luggage and
office-goers too were hit hard.
The strike is part of the
nationwide agitation by major trade unions demanding repeal of the Road
Transport and Safety Bill, 2014, and alleged anti-worker policies of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
The protest
is against the hefty penalties that are proposed in the new bill such
as Rs.50,000 for rash driving, Rs.10,000 for drunken driving and up to
Rs.6,000 for over-speeding. The bill is to be put before the cabinet for
approval.
The bill also proposes a regulatory authority, not
only to advise the central and state governments on road safety, but
also have the powers to ensure that the norms laid down are followed by
all stake-holders.
Transporters say the penalties, along with the
proposed norms on testing of vehicles, road-worthiness, licensing,
among others, are too stringent.
The ministry of road transport
and highways says this is necessary so as to reduce road accidents by at
least 200,000 over the next five years, as opposed to some 490,000
accidents each year - 25 percent of them fatal in nature.
State
roadways, private buses and taxis did not ply across Haryana, causing
misery to thousands of passengers. Buses remained parked at bus stands
or bus depots, and passengers were left stranded.
Auto-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws made a fast buck from people wanting to reach their destination on time.
Normal
life in West Bengal was thrown out of gear by the dawn-to-dusk
shutdown. Most of the roads across the state, including in capital
Kolkata, wore a near-deserted look.
Passengers at the busy
Howrah and Sealdah railway stations and office-goers had a difficult
time with no taxi or bus to avail. There were reports of buses being
vandalised in several parts of Kolkata and Howrah.
While most of the private schools remained shut, the attendance at government schools was negligible.
"After
struggling to get a conveyance to reach my child to school, I found it
nearly empty. Most of the students and teachers and even the principal
is absent. I do not support such kind of politics of disruptions," said a
parent.
Left Front major Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) activists took out rallies in many parts of the city and the
state in support of the strike.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
has repeatedly called on the people to foil the strike, and her
government has issued a circular directing government employees to
compulsorily report on duty.
Life in Left Front-ruled Tripura was affected as all means of public transport stayed off the roads.
Commuters,
office-goers and passengers faced inconvenience as buses, small and
medium vehicles, auto-rickshaws and even battery-operated rickshaws
remained off the roads.
"The strike was spontaneous and total.
No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state," Centre of
Indian Trade Unions (CITU) working committee member Tapas Datta told
IANS in Agartala.
The transport workers on Thursday also
organised protest rallies across Tripura to denounce the new transport
bill proposed. Various other employees unions and professional
organisations have extended their support to the strike.
In
Himachal Pradesh, employees of the state-run Himachal Road Transport
Corporation (HRTC), which has a fleet of over 2,200 buses, went on a
day's strike.
The strike hit the commuters hard with connectivity
between cities and towns affected. However, several private buses were
on the road.
The strike hit Kerala hard, with hundreds of people
who arrived at various bus stands, railway stations and airports in the
state facing a lot of inconvenience.
The stir, however, evoked partial response in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The
transport services were partially affected in Hyderabad as a section of
auto-rickshaws, taxis and trucks remained off the roads.
With
major employees' uniond in state-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC)
not participating in the stir, the public transport was not impacted by
the strike in both Telugu-speaking states.
Some unions of auto
drivers organised a rally in Hyderabad to protest what they called
anti-workers measures proposed in the central bill.
The strike
call had no impact in Karimnagar, Nizamabad and other towns in Telangana
as auto-rickshaws and taxis plied as usual. There was little impact in
Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and other cities in Andhra Pradesh
as the strike call evoked partial response.