Bhubaneswar: Transport workers in Odisha under the banner of All Odisha Transport Workers’ Federation (AOTWF) have extended their active support to the 24-hour nation-wide transport strike Tuesday.
The strike has been called by All India Road Transport Federation and different trade unions, including the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), demanding revoking of the Centre’s decision to usher in major amendments in Motor Vehicle Act 1988.
“We will hold protest rallies against the Bill introduced by the Modi government to amend the Motor Vehicle Act. We have also sought the support of the private bus, taxi, auto, truck, trippers and other associations and urged them to join the protest. Only commercial vehicles will be off the road during the strike, while people will be free to use their personal vehicles,” said AOTWF president Janardan Pati here Monday. Pati said, they will not affect the movement of trains and vehicles engaged in emergency services.
“We are opposing the move to amend the provision laid down for motor vehicle equipment and third party insurance among others. If the Bill is converted into law, vehicle owners, drivers and the insurance companies will all incur heavy losses,” he said. “This Bill is anti-people and anti-workers, as it says that only branded company spare parts are to be used and this would affect the small-scale enterprises in the automobile parts manufacturing sector,” he added.
Lakhs of roadside mechanics will lose their livelihoods, as the Bill states that servicing and repair works should only be done at the company service centres, he added.
Exams postponed
Bhubaneswar: In view of the proposed nation-wide strike called by the transporters’ associations, the state government has postponed the online entrance test for admission to various teachers training courses like B Ed and CT. The entrance tests, which were scheduled for August 7 (Tuesday), have been postponed to August 16. However, the examinations scheduled between August 8 and 14 will be conducted as per schedule, said director of Directorate of Teacher Education and State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT) Pratap Chandra Dash.