Bhubaneswar: The agitating drivers in Odisha, whose state-wide strike entered its third day Friday, rejected the government’s written assurance to fulfill their 10-point charter of demands within three months and has announced to continue with their stir.
The Drivers Ekta Mahasangha said it may call off the agitation if Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself announced that their demands for pension, insurance and other amenities will be fulfilled.
The Mahasangha president Prasanta Menduli said “Our association is not happy with the chief secretary’s written assurance. Our agitation will continue till the government makes an announcement.”
Menduli in his video message also called upon the driver fraternity to come forward to fight for the fulfillment of their demands.
The government has meanwhile constituted a taskforce headed by chief secretary P K Jena to monitor the movement of essential commodities which has been hit by the drivers’ agitation, a notification by the state commerce and transport department said.
The taskforce was formed Thursday night and Jena gave the Mahasangha the written assurance to resolve their issues within three months from March 16. He also appealed to the body to call off the strike, it said.
The taskforce will ensure that there is no disturbance in the supply chain due to the unavailability of goods in the market, it said.
Prices of essential commodities like vegetables, fishes, eggs and other off items have skyrocketed as the trucks carrying them are standard in different parts of the state due to the drivers’ strike.
The taskforce held its first meeting Thursday night in which it monitored the current market situation. It also initiated various steps to ensure smooth movement of the essential commodities.
It proposed alternative strategies for movement of various commodities, including fuel, to avoid any inconvenience to the public, the notification said.
The director general of police, the development commissioner, principal secretaries in the commerce and transport and food Supplies and consumer welfare departments and the transport commissioner are the other members of the taskforce, the notification said.
“The task force will meet as frequently as required and take necessary action to ensure free movements of essential commodities. Three Control Rooms, which would operate for 24×7, have been established,” an official release said.
The control rooms are at the offices of the state emergency response centre (telephone number 112), transport commissioner (1800-345-1073) and the food supply and consumer welfare department (0674-239-3644), it said.
Meantime, activities in different bus stands and terminals are returning to normal after the agitating drivers vacated the roads, including national highways, and buses with passengers onboard left for Balasore, Baripada, Berhampore and other place from Barmunda bus terminal here Friday, an official said.
The Odisha Private Bus Owners Association, which had threatened to go on strike from Friday morning demanding clearance of roads for smooth movement of passenger bus, called it off after most of the roads were cleared, he said.
The Association is opposed to the Drivers Ekta Mahasangha, which launched its ‘Quit Steering’ agitation Wednesday.
PTI