CPI-M in strike talks

Two truckers' associations in andhra withdraw

The All Indian Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA) today demanded the resignation of Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Minister for Surface Transport TR Baalu, following the arrest of the its chairman OP Agarwal.

AITWA officials said Agarwal had been sent to Tihar Jail for 14 days and they planned to appeal in the session court tomorrow. Agarwal was arrested yesterday under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).

Meanwhile, the government today claimed that truck and lorry associations in Andhra Pradesh today withdrew from the indefinite strike.

In a communication to Road Transport Secretary Dhirendera Singh, Andhra Transport Commissioner R S Diswal said: "The Andhra Pradesh Lorry Owners Association and State Motor Transport Owners Association have called off the ongoing strike with immediate effect."

The striking truckers, however, denied the report and said the government was spreading wrong information to mislead the public.

Informed sources said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajshekhar Reddy also apprised Chidambaram about the developments in the state, including two associations' withdrawal from the strike.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) today joined negotiations on behalf of striking truckers to end the impasse. CPI-M General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet arranged a meeting between members of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and Finance Minister P Chidambaram this morning. The minister, however, refused to meet the transporters at his North Block office, and sent Revenue Secretary Vineeta Rai to deal with them.

"I agree with their (truckers) demands and the government is working to end the strike," Surjeet said, after a meeting with AIMTC members. The talks with the revenue secretary failed to produce any results. Referring to the arrests of AIMTC members, Surjeet said it was no way of ending a strike.

The Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the trade union wing of the CPI-M, told Business Standard yesterday that it was willing to do whatever it could to resolve the situation if the government invited them to be a part of the negotiations.

The party may have entered the negotiations at the behest of the trade union, which has many members amongst the striking truck workers.