 Millions of truckers go on strike in India
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-03 07:39
Millions of Indian truckers went on strike yesterday to protest against high taxes and rising fuel bills, union leaders said, adding that a meeting with the transport ministry had failed to resolve the dispute. Trucks provide the transport lifeline of India's economy and a lengthy strike would threaten not only goods supplies but also industrial output. Diesel sales could drop sharply. "About 4.5 million trucks are off the road as part of our indefinite strike. Transportation of all goods, including essential items, has been stopped," said S.K. Sharma, an adviser to the All India Motor Transport Congress. "We have to wait and watch for the government's response." T.R. Baalu, India's transport minister, released a statement asking the transporter associations to end their strike, saying the ministry was trying to sort out their problems. In the southern city of Chennai, about 1,000 protesters waved placards in a noisy rally, while vegetable vendors said people had already begun panic buying potatoes and other groceries. Any prolonged action will add to the woes of India's coalition government, which is already battling inflation soaring at a 13-year high. Also, its Communist allies are threatening to withdraw support over a nuclear deal with the United States, raising the prospect of a snap election. Charan Singh Lohara, president of the truckers' congress, which represents both large and small operations, and other representatives met transport ministry officials yesterday. The ministry said in its statement that it had explained in the meeting the reasoning behind some of the rate hikes, and was trying to solve some of the other problems raised. Lohara said he was unhappy with the minister's response, and that the strike would continue "until the government solves our problems." Lohara said earlier most of the 4 million trucks he expected to stay off the roads were long-distance cargo carriers, consuming between 75 and 80 liters of diesel a day. India caps the prices of normal petrol and diesel sold through fuel stations but no such price control exists for branded fuels, which are still much cheaper than if prices were market-determined. The Indian government, which heavily subsidizes fuel prices to protect the poor, raised the retail price of petrol and diesel by about 10 percent this month to partly pass on the soaring cost of crude oil. But many of the country's states cut local taxes to soften the impact on consumers. Worldwide protests Protests by truckers, taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers demanding fuel-tax breaks have spread across the world in the past month, increasing fears of political instability and a global economic downturn, as the higher fuel prices add to inflation and squeeze business margins. In Britain, hundreds of truckers were driving to the Parliament yesterday to protest the rising cost of fuel. Police closed a section of the A40 highway into the city to let the trucks gather, then escorted them in small convoys into the center of town. Dozens of protesters on foot awaited them outside the Houses of Parliament, holding placards that said "Fair Play on Fuel." On Tuesday, Australian truckers clogged a commuter freeway in protest against rising fuel costs, as their union said drivers were risking lives by cutting maintenance and working longer hours to absorb the costs. About 100 truckers staged a "go slow" convoy on the main freeway from Newcastle to Sydney, driving at 90 kmh, slower than the freeway limit. Agencies (China Daily 07/03/2008 page12) |
