THE one day strike call on March 27 given by various organisations working in transport sector against the steep hike in fees, penalties etc, was a resounding success in Bihar. All India Road Transport Federation unit of Bihar took initiative to rally the various organisations working in the transport sector and unitedly they gave a call for one day strike.

Leaflets and posters were issued and meetings, seminars were organised in different districts to make the transport sector workers, employees, operators aware of the impending disaster which is knocking at the door in the name of transport safely bill awaiting parliamentary approval. In the meantime, the government has increased the various fees and penalties and the premium for insurance manifold which will cripple the entire transport sector and pave the way for transport giants like Uber and Ola to take over the growing transport sector.

The sweep of the strike was so overwhelming that it affected the entire state. All the buses remained stranded in the bus stands of Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Kishanganj, Purnea which are the major hubs of bus operators.

In most of the districts, autos were also off the roads as the CITU affiliated unions in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Jahanabad, Jammui, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Katihar, Madhubani, Samastipur, Begusarai, Khagaria whole heartedly joined the strike.

The workers of CITU came out into the street in different districts early in the morning and raised slogans against the policy of the central and state governments.

The biggest bus stand Mithapur in Patna was the scene of milling crowds of travellers who wanted to reach their destinations by bus but they had to wait till the evening when the strike came to an end.

Raj Kumar Jha, general secretary, Vijaydhari Kumar, general secretary and president of  Bihar unit of the All India Road Transport Federation, Uday Shankar Singh, Ajay Kumar Singh president and general secretary, Bihar State Motor Transport Federation, briefed the electronic and print media representatives and declared that the one day strike is the beginning of the long drawn battle against the anti-transport and anti-people policies of the central and state governments. If the central government does not heed our warning, we shall carry this movement forward mobilising the other sections of the society as the entire population in going to be affected due to ill-conceived anti-people transport policy. CITU leaders, in different district played a major role in making the strike a complete success.

CITU general secretary, Ganesh Shankar Singh congratulated the transport workers, employees, operators and particularly the CITU leaders associated with transport unions for their efforts in mobilising the common workers in favour of the strike.