Odisha Motor Transport Workers’ Federation Ends Strike Following Talks with Govt

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Motor Transport Workers’ Federation called off their strike on Monday following a talk with the officials of the Odisha Commerce and Transport Department at the Lok Seva Bhawan.

The federation was on an indefinite strike against the new penal provision made in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for hit-and-run cases. As per the new law, there is 10-year imprisonment of the drivers and a fine of Rs 7 lakh in hit-and-run cases.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Commerce and Transport Department and Principal Secretary Usha Padhi, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner Soumendra Priyadarshi, and Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh met the federation representatives including the President of the All-Odisha Transport Workers Association Janardan Pati, Ullash Swain, and others.

The officials requested the federation to withdraw their strike based on a recent statement made by the Union Home Secretary to avoid any inconvenience to the public.

After the meeting, the federation declared that the strike had been called off with immediate effect. Both, Chief Secretary and Pati requested the transport workers to withdraw their strike decision.