The strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress demanding inclusion of diesel under the Goods and Sales Tax (GST) ambit evoked a positive response and goods transportation came to a virtual standstill in the State on Monday.
Hundreds of trucks and mini-trucks in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar, Rourkela and other industrial towns went off the roads and were parked bumper to bumper as the transporters persuaded everybody to join their strike.
Transport Minister Nrusingha Sahu said, “We have for long been demanding inclusion of diesel under GST.”
Bhubaneswar Goods Transport Association (BGTA) president Niranjan Praharaj said the stir was a success. The mini-truck association expressed solidarity with our agitation. Most of the vehicles were off the roads. More than 2,000 transport offices didn’t accept any bookings. The daily change in fuel products is hampering our business badly. Diesel must be brought under GST for the prices of essential commodities to remain stable and development of the country,” Praharaj said.
Sources said that due to the strike, there was a revenue loss of around Rs 6 crore and business of Rs 30 to Rs 35 crore was lost by the transporters.