The All Jammu & Kashmir Transport Welfare Association (AJKTWA) on Friday suspended its proposed ‘Chakka-Jam’ strike scheduled for December 15, following a high-level meeting with Transport Minister Satish Sharma at the Civil Secretariat.
The decision came after the Transport Minister intervened and convened an urgent meeting to address the long-pending issues faced by the transport community. The meeting, which lasted for over two hours, was attended by senior administrative and police officials, along with office-bearers of the Association.
Chairman of the J&K Transporters Association, Karan Singh Wazir, said the strike had been announced to draw attention to unresolved concerns of transporters, but the Minister’s assurance of time-bound solutions prompted the Association to defer the agitation.
Key Assurances Given
During the meeting, the Transport Minister gave a patient hearing to the transporters and assured resolution of several key issues:
- E-Bus Routes & Scheduling: The Minister assured that issues related to e-bus routes and schedules would be resolved within two weeks.
- Fare Revision: The department was directed to expedite the fare revision process, noting that the proposal has already been forwarded to the Finance Department for approval.
- E-Challans: The IGP Traffic informed that nearly 27,000 challans are under scrutiny and clarified that casual challans will not result in blacklisting; only serious violations will be considered. E-challaning will be strictly enforced through authorized devices only.
- Fitness Fee Hike: The Association was assured that the fitness fee hike would be reviewed and rationalised as per policy provisions.
- Automated Testing Stations (ATS): On the request for additional time to comply with ATS norms, the Minister assured that an extension of up to four months would be taken up with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), considering the genuine difficulties faced by transporters.
- Pending Payments: On long-pending dues related to PM rallies, Operation Sindoor, Khelo India events and the Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra, the Government assured that payments would be released in a time-bound manner.
Strike Deferred, Review After Two Weeks
Following these assurances, AJKTWA decided to suspend the December 15 strike. The Association will wait for two weeks, as assured by the Minister, and will then convene a General Body Meeting to assess progress and decide the future course of action.
Officials & Representatives Present
The meeting was attended by Transport Secretary Avny Lavasa, Additional Secretary Transport, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, IGP Traffic J&K, Managing Director JKSRTC, Joint Transport Commissioner, two Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) and several senior officers.
Association representatives present included Vijay Singh Chib, Mohd Shabir, Parvinder Singh, Bharat Bhushan, Anan Sharma, Ranjit Singh, Mohd Yousuf, Abdul Majid, Showkat Ali, Sanjeev Choudhary, Vijay Dogra, Gurdeep Singh, Irshad, Mudasir and others.
