Trucker Strike Hits Food, Fuel Supply Across States

Breakthrough in talks: Govt assures truckers new laws will be rolled out only after consultations

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Fuel stations ran dry and wholesale vegetable markets received a fraction of the commodities they usually do as several parts of the country were on Tuesday hit by the second day of a three-day strike by truck drivers protesting harsher new penalties for hit-and-run offences in the new crime code.

The Union government opened talks with association leaders, with the home ministry issuing appeals for the truck drivers to return to work after promising detailed discussions will be held before the new stringent new legal provisions take effect.

After a meeting with home secretary Ajay Bhalla, representatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress one of the unions representing truck drivers -said discussions were successful and the new punishments will not be invoked until the next meeting, reiterating the government's call for truck drivers to resume duty. To be sure, the strike was not called by AIMTC but by smaller unions at the state level that have links to it.

"We had a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives, the government wants to say that the new rule has not been implemented yet. Before implementing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 106/2, we will have a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives and then only we will take a decision," said Bhalla.

Throughout Tuesday, there was panic buying of fuel in at least eight states-Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh-and authorities in at least three of these issued directions to fuel retailers to limit the amount a single person can buy.

The protests led to blockades on major highways, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Mumbai Bengaluru, Bhopal-Gwalior, Delhi-Karnal and Satna-Bhopal links.