Buses plying under Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation will go off road from midnight tonight in a protest by Roadways union against the Centre's new bill on road safety and transport.
About 4,500 buses of RSRTC will stop operation in Rajasthan as drivers will go on a one-day protest against the Center's new bill that would make them responsible for any road accident, General Secretary of RSRTC Union Dharamveer Choudhary told PTI.
"Under the provisions of the new bill, if a child is killed in a road accident by any driver, he will be punished with a cash fine of Rs 3 lakh and imprisonment upto seven years.
"While in case of an animal's death in a road mishap, the fine would be Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment up to four years," Choudhary, who is affiliated to All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said.
The new bill will also enable the state government to allow private carriages on state roads, causing financial losses to the RSRTC.
In protest, over 22,000 employees will go on a one-day strike, which would cause a revenue loss of Rs 5 crore to RSRTC, affecting over 10 lakh passengers.
The 24-hour strike will begin from midnight as per the trade union's notice.
Meanwhile, RSRTC spokesperson Sudhir Bhati has said that the roadways administration has appealed to the employees not to join the strike as it would be treated as "no work, no pay", and it would also affect passengers' services.
