Transporters body ‘defers’ ‘Chaka Jam’ strike
SRINAGAR — Kashmir Welfare Transporters Welfare Association, an amalgam of various transporters associations, on Wednesday deferred ‘Chaka Jam’ (stop wheels) strike scheduled today after midnight negotiations with the government.
“There were two rounds of meeting with officers at Jammu during the day on Tuesday and both ended without any headway. However late last night, we were called for a meeting which started at midnight and lasted till around 3 AM,” General Secretary of the Association, Sheikh Mohammad Yousuf, told GNS.
He said that the meeting was held under the chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner Jammu and was attended among others by Transport Commissioner J&K, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, SSP Jammu besides other officers.
“They accepted most of our demands in principles following which we decided to defer the strike,” he said, adding, “We have been assured that a committee will be constituted with regard to our demands regarding the age of the vehicles while the other four demands were agreed on the spot.”
He said that Association along with other transport bodies from Jammu decided to defer the strike. “We have not called off the strike but only deferred it,” he added.
Among others, the Association demands rollback of the order dated February 7 by virtue of which age limit has been prescribed for the commercial vehicles. They demand “25 years age for the commercial vehicle be retained.”
With regard to the installation of vehicle tracking devices in passenger vehicles, Sheikh Mohammad Yousuf said that the government has agreed that the device can be procured from the open market and not from a few dealers designated by the Transport department earlier.
He said that the government also accepted the demand of not allowing SRTC to run its fleet in a manner that was against directions by the J-K High Court and other laws. The government, he said, also agreed that there would driving license test for auto rickshaws and that passenger tax arrears would be paid in instalments.