THE one-day national strike of road transport workers on April 30 demanding withdrawal of the draconian Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015, to be tabled in Parliament, was a grand success and historical. The strike call was given by national-level road transport workers’ federations affiliated to CITU, AITUC, INTUC, BMS, HMS, AICCTU, LPF and independent state unions. Around 2 crores workers participated in the strike with most vehicles staying off the roads. The countrywide strike was for the first time in the history of India. In the name of road safety, the intention of the BJP government is to take over the entire core transport sector under the Union Government and then to privatise it by handing over to the corporate sector, rendering lakhs of workers jobless in the process. Thousands of those employed in public transport corporations, private buses and mini buses, lorry, trucks, auto-rickshaws, taxi, school and college buses, automobile workshops, spare parts shops, auto consultants, etc. participated in the strike. Employees of state government offices and motor vehicle departments organised protest demonstrations wearing black badges on the day. The strike was called after the central government failed to respond to the representations made on the subject to the Prime Minister and the Road Transport Minister. In West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the bandh was total. Road transport workers (both public and private) in West Bengal participated in the strike en masse despite attempts by the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal to run public transport buses and physical attacks by the ruling party goons in some parts of the state. In Asansol, police and Trinamool Conmgress goons attacked the workers who were on strike and two workers were seriously injured and hospitalised. In Raniganj of Burdwan district, a large rally of road transport workers was held and the TMC goons attacked the workers with weapons. In Dimapur of Nagaland, all truck operators stopped work and supported the strike. The strike was total in all road transport corporations. In Gujarat, all the 44,000 workers participated in the strike. In Karnataka, Kerala, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Odisha, all state transport corporation buses were off the road. There was total strike in private bus sector in West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. In Mumbai, only 10 percent autos and 300 buses plied on roads. In Bihar and Karnataka, there was a bundh like situation in all most all places. In Delhi, 90,000 autos were off the road and very few buses were plying. In BEST and Maharashtra state, all the STU buses were off the road and State Transport Minister called a meeting of trade union leaders and informed that he is against the bill and appealed to withdraw the strike and the strike was called off. In Karnataka, STU workers participated in the strike without adhering to the instructions issued to attend duty. The transport services were crippled in Gujarat. In Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, some unions of college and school buses supported and participated in the strike after contacting the CITU-affiliated All India Road Transport Workers’ Federation (AIRTWF) leadership even though these are not affiliated to our federation. Police arrested several CITU activists organising ‘road roko’ in several towns of Andhra Pradesh. Massive demonstrations were organised in Jammu and Kashmir despite severe downpour. The organisations of truck owners in several states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and Telungana supported the strike. Around 20 auto-rickshaw drivers were seen begging and asking for alms from passengers at Coimbatore Railway Station in Tamil Nadu on the striking day and they said that this was exactly what they would be forced to do if the bill is passed. In Bihar, highways were blocked in Katihar, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Begusarai. In Kerala mass rallies and dharnas were organised by striking workers. Media gave a good coverage of the strike. National dailies reported the successful strike in details. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, universities postponed scheduled examinations due to the strike. BJP’s southern ally PMK extended its support to the transport strike and stated that it is a “black legislation”. DMK chief M Karunanidhi stated that the Road Transport Bill violates the federal spirit and urged the Centre to withdraw the bill. The All India Road Transport Workers’ Federation organised mass campaigns and programmes for the success of the strike at grassroots level. State conventions were organised in all states. Vehicle jathas were organised in several states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to explain the impacts of the bill Seminar and convention were organised in Lucknow, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. A national seminar on the impact of the bill was organised in Thirupathi by AIRTWF and APSRTC Staff and Workers Federation inviting transport experts and national transport federation leaders. On implementation of the provisions of the bill, millions of road transport workers would become jobless and many vehicles would be off the road. Fifty-three state road transport undertakings in the country, employing 7.5 lakhs of workers, will be closed. Registration of motor vehicles, issuance of fitness certificate and driving licence will be outsourced to private parties and thereby the officers and employees of transport department will face threat to their jobs. Penalties and punishments proposed in the new bill will discourage driving professions. Lakhs of self-employed auto-rickshaw, taxi and lorry drivers-cum-owners and conductors will lose their livelihood. Private buses will be eliminated from roads as tendering system will be adopted for giving route permit. Driving school workers will lose their employment. Toll operators will be authorised to execute rules and regulations. Community service will be added to penalty. The CPI(M) Polit Bureau congratulated the workers and stated that the strike was successful, massive and involved some 20 million workers and sought the intervention of the Union Government and discuss the provisions of the Bill with the representatives of the transport sector including workers unions instead of trying to push through the bill in Parliament. CITU congratulated the road transport workers and their national federations for the grand success of the strike and demanded the BJP-led government withdraw the bill. Tapen Sen, Member of Parliament and General Secretary of CITU, raised the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on the day of the strike urging upon the government to withdraw the anti-worker and anti-people bill. He stated that it was a one-day peaceful strike from Kanyakumari to Kashmir organised by road transport workers. Sitaram Yechury (CPM), D Raja (CPI), T K Rangarajan (CPM), C P Narayanan (CPM), Ritabrata Banerjee (CPM), K K Ragesh (CPM) associated with the statement of Tapan Sen. The success of the strike was the results of sustained and united struggles of road transport workers. (END)