The talks between the agitating truckers and the mediating Bharatiya Janata Party leaders failed on Monday evening.
The striking truckers pledged on Monday to keep up their week-old protest that has paralysed freight movement nationwide until the government meets their demands for stable fuel prices and fewer levies.
It was a fast-paced day for the striking transporters. Earlier in the day they began their agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Within hours, a truckers' delegation met with the BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan and BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana to find a solution to the vexed problem and end the stir.
However, no progress was possible on this count even after the talks.
"(Pramod) Mahajan called us and discussed out demands, but nothing came out of it. We wanted him to arrange our meeting with the petroleum minister, the finance minister, and the Deputy Prime Minister Advaniji. But he gave us no assurances," B S Dhumal, president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, said after the meeting with Mahajan.
An Irate Dhumal, who had -- along with some other leaders of the striking transporters -- pinned hopes on their meeting with the BJP leaders sounded disappointed with the response.
"The points that were disputed earlier still remain disputed. What can Mahajan do? He has no authority to take decisions and he did not even arrange the meeting with the concerned ministers we wanted to talk to," said Dhumal.
The transporters feel that the government's attitude is that of arrogance and nobody is listening to them.
"We cannot match their muscle power, the way they are taking out advertisements in the papers. But we can certainly feel it is a high-handed, arrogant government. We will have to stiffen our posture," said Inder Bir Singh, secretary, Delhi Transport Goods Carriers Association.
The transporters claim that their demands have been pending since 1999 when they had gone on strike and then the government had assured them in writing that the demands would be fulfilled.
A memorandum of understanding between the transporters and the ministry of surface transport signed by Ashok Joshi, secretary, ministry of surface transport, dated November 11, 1999 makes it clear that the ministry of surface transport had agreed to get the fixation of the freight charges-one of the present demands - met 'preferably within 30 days.'
The above-mentioned communique also talks about reviewing the collection of toll charges in detail with the establishment of a committee.
"But till this date nothing has happened," said J M Saxena, the secretary general, AIMTC.
On the question of the government agreeing to seven out of the ten demands of the transporters, Dhumal asked: "Which seven demands? We are not sure of anything and we will not beg anymore. The strike is going to be harsher."
Many transporters are in favour of blocking the inter-state border that Delhi shares with other states and slogans to that effect were being raised.
On Tuesday afternoon, the transporters will decide their plan of action after a meeting of the members of AIMTC from all over India.
As the strike looks like it will drag on for some more days, it will begin to hit the common man hard. "We are evaluating the deadline on the essential commodities on a day-to-day basis. We definitely do not want to hassle the public," Inder Bir Singh said.
Silent protest
More than 200 truckers, masks over their mouths, demonstrated silently near Parliament to draw attention to their calls for a halt to frequent fuel price hikes, immunity from a planned value-added tax, an end to toll fees and minimum freight rates.
Local media have reported the strike is costing businesses up to Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) a day.
Gajendra Sharma, an official of the All India Motor Transport Congress, said that the transport ministry had said it was willing to resume talks with the truckers but wanted them to end their strike first. "We've rejected the invitation as it had pre-conditions," he said. "We won't agree to any pre-conditions."
He said the AIMTC, India's largest truckers' union with 2.7 million vehicles, wanted the government to reconsider its stand.
Government authorities were not immediately available for comment. The AIMTC and government held brief talks last week but made no breakthrough.
Prices of fruit and vegetables, now dependent on smaller vehicles for delivery, have soared by up to 25 percent in some places.
Sushil Jiwarajka, head of the western region of FICCI, a major business lobby, said industries such as steel, textiles and readymade garments had been severely hit. Industries were running out of raw materials and finished goods were piling up.
The strike has also sharply slowed wheat and rice exports as many ports have nearly halted operations. "We've about 11 vessels waiting for cargo," said an official at Kandla port, one of India's busiest. "Since there's no evacuation of cargo from the port, the warehouse area is full," he said.
Only Kandla's oil jetties were working on Monday and even with them, "we'll shortly face problems as we're saturating the storage tanks," the official added.
Cement makers said supplies would be strained if the strike lasted several more days. "Retail prices are already moving up," said a spokesman for Associated Cement Companies, the industry leader, giving no details.
Additional inputs: Reuters
