From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Oct 10: The two-day nation-wide token strike by truckers in support of their various demands, including bringing diesel under the GST regime has affected movement of goods across Karnataka from Monday and could cause disruption in supplies for the next few days.

"All trucks have stopped plying since 6 a.m. across Karnataka, holding up movement of goods and parcels within and across the state till 6 pm on Tuesday," according to All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) south zone General Secretary G.R. Shanmugappa. 

The 48-hour strike ahead of Diwali is intended to force Central and State governments agree on bringing diesel under the Good and Services Tax (GST) regime, have an alternative collection of toll on highways and ensure transparency at check-posts across the country. 

Though the strike is till Tuesday, the supplies have to begin from Wednesday and it may take a few days for the situation to stabilise.

Shanmugappa said about 4 lakh trucks are at standstill across the state as about 90 associations affiliated to our all-India apex body (AIMTC) in Karnataka are participating in the strike in support of our major demands.

He said about a million people, including drivers, cleaners, porters and their support staff were also participating in the two-day strike across the State. 

Accusing the Centre and State governments of being indifferent to the road transport sector, AIMTC General Secretary Naveen Kumar Gupta said the truckers would go on indefinite strike from mid-November if their main demands were not met.

"As we ferry goods and parcels through intra-state and inter-state routes across the country, a rationalised Value Added Tax (VAT) and uniform excise on diesel in all states would reduce our operational cost and benefit all stakeholders," Gupta said.

Though GST has brought relief to truck operators at the inter-state check posts in terms of tax and Octroi payments, daily payment at toll gates within and across the states has turned into a nightmare due to long queues, wastage of fuel and traffic pile ups at their entry and exit points. 

"We are not against toll collection if its objective is to mobilise funds for maintaining state roads and national highways. As the electronic toll collection (ETC) has not been viable or used in all states, the government should find an alternative mechanism to collect the toll without holding our trucks for long," said Gupta. 

Gupta and Shanmugam criticised the massive corruption and harassment in the transport sector, especially at RTOs and check posts.  

Ever since the GST was introduced on July 1, our drivers and support staff are relieved of the paper work, as we do not have to pay inter-state taxes like VAT, Octroi and other levies on goods at check-posts, they said.