The Odisha State Truck Owners’ Association (OSTO) on Wednesday called off its indefinite strike call after it received assurances from the State Government towards fulfilment of its demands.
“Since the State Government has agreed to fulfil all our demands, we have decided to call off the proposed indefinite strike from tonight,” said OSTO general secretary Rabi Satapathy after holding discussions with Commerce and Transport Secretary G Mathivatnam at the State Secretariat in the evening.
The truckers had threatened to go on indefinite strike from midnight of January 15 in support of their eight-point charter of demands including freight hike as per the technical committee report. An estimated 1.30 lakh trucks would have gone off the roads.
Satapathy said the Government also assured to streamline the vehicles checking system at the border check gates and curbs to avoid traffic harassment being meted out by the officials. This apart, the Government also agreed to abolish additional fees imposed on the truckers in lieu of the All India Permit and the move to give fitness certificate to vehicles through a private body.
Due to the strike call, the vendors selling consumable items like patato, onion and other items coming to the State through daily transport system reportedly hiked there prices across the State.