Odisha govt assures agitating drivers of fulfilling their demands in 3 months

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today assured the agitating drivers of fulfilling their demands within three months.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena has written a letter in this regard to Driver Ekata Manch, an association of drivers in Odisha.

The Chief Secretary also held a meeting with the representatives of the drivers’ association at the Secretariat here and told the Driver Ekata Manch to call off its indefinite strike at the earliest.

“The state government is aware of the demands of the drivers’ association. We held discussions with the representatives of the association at the Secretariat this evening and assured them to fulfill their demands within three months. We hope that the association will take a positive decision regarding calling off their indefinite agitation,” said the Chief Secretary.

Driver Ekata Manch Khurda district secretary Babula Tripathy said they have received the letter from the Chief Secretary and forwarded the same to the state committee of the association.

“Earlier, the state governmental had made a verbal promise to fulfill our demands but nothing has happened. This time, the Chief Secretary has given a written assurance. The state government has assured us to fulfill our demands within three months. The state committee of our association may withdraw the strike within an hour,” Tripathy said.

Notably, thousands of drivers yesterday launched their indefinite strike to press for their 10-point charter of demands including formation of a welfare fund for them, social security measures and pensions after 60 years of age.

In a related development, the state government has formed a task force under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to ensure smooth movement of essential commodities in the wake of drivers’ agitation in Odisha.

The Development Commissioner, Director General of Police, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department Principal Secretary and Transport Commissioner are the members of the task force. Commerce and Transport department Principal Secretary is member-convener of the task force.

The state government has also set up control rooms at the office of State Emergency Response Centre, office of the Transport Commissioner and Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department to help the transporters and common people during the agitation.

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