Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday came out in support of the truck unions, which have been recently banned by the Congress-led Punjab Government.
Criticising Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for snatching livelihood of 93,000 small hardworking truck operators, the party demanded review of “erroneous decision”.
“Once again displaying his feudal mind-set, Capt Amarinder has arbitrarily disbanded truck unions in Punjab. By doing so, he has not only snatched the livelihood of approximately one lakh truck operators but has put to risk the future of their families as well,” said AAP MlA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Khaira said that the age-old system of truck unions was adopted primarily to safeguard the interest of small and marginal truck operators, who otherwise cannot compete with corporate logistic companies.
“Through the system of truck unions, these small operators were guaranteed some sort of minimum annual income. Most of the trucks owned by small and marginal operators cannot cover long distances, due to old machinery and in no manner can they ever compete with brand new huge fleets of trucks owned by corporate companies,” he argued.
He maintained that the powerful lobby of corporate business houses and big logistic companies have influenced Capt Amarinder to do away with truck union system in Punjab.