Truckers stir to affect Kerala

Jays Jacob
12 July 2003

Kochi: Prices of vegetables, which have already escalated in Kerala, are likely to shoot up further with the truck and lorry owners in the state going on an indefinite strike from Monday midnight.

All the goods carriers, including container lorries, trucks, tanker lorries, mini-lorries and goods autorickshaws and tourist buses and taxis, will not operate and the movement of goods and passengers will come to a standstill, the leaders of the workers coordination committee said.

The trade unions of all the major parties, including the Congress and the Left, have jointly given the call for the stir, coordination committee leaders Elamaram Kareem and P M Mohammed Ali (Lorry Owners Federation) said.

Their counterparts in other states had also agreed not to operate trucks into Kerala, thus bringing to halt the import of goods. The leaders, comparing the tax structure in other southern states, claimed that the nearly 50-per cent hike has pushed about 5 lakh employees into crisis.

Meanwhile, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G Karthikeyan on Friday convened a meeting of top officials of the food and civil supplies departments to ensure adequate supply of essential commodities.

The meeting decided to supply vegetables through all the outlets of the Civil Supplies Corporation. The vehicles of the corporation will be used for transportation of vegetables and commodities. The meeting evaluated that the Maveli stores had adequate stock of essential commodities to meet the demand for the next two months.