Attari strike: Protesting porters to get prepaid cards, bank accounts

AMRITSAR: There was no import of goods from Pakistan on the third consecutive day on Friday as porters at India's first integrated check post (ICP) at Attari have suspended of work over wages.
Customs officials held a meeting and decided to distribute prepaid cards and initiate process of opening of accounts of all the 1,433 porters working at ICP.
According to highly placed sources, a joint meeting of officials of customs department, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), representatives of traders and porters was held at ICP, wherein it was decided to temporarily issue prepaid cards to porters against which they could withdraw their wages from bank.
Porters at ICP have suspended loading and unloading of goods imported from Pakistan due to nonavailability of cash with the service providers appointed by CWC.
“The wages of labourers will be credited in their respective cards which they will be able to withdraw from banks,“ said sources at ICP.
The documentation work for issuing prepaid cards has already begun, they added.
“This is just an initial step to persuade porters to resume work since it is not only causing losses but also embarrassment,“ said sources.
Out of 1,433 porters at ICP, only a few hundred have shared their bank account details with service providers for online transfer of wages, which come to around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per porter per month.
President of a section of porters' union Balwidner Singh informed that they had suspended work due to cash crunch. “Sometimes they give us payment in old currency notes but those are not accepted anywhere, so we had no option but to suspend the work.“ He said they were yet to receive the cards but still they preferred payment in cash.
Former president of a section of porters union Shubegh Singh said they were yet to receive the cards but confirmed that they had not returned to their duties.
India exports perishable items like tomatoes, ginger, garlic and cotton yarn to Pakistan, while the neighbouring nation exports cement, gypsum and dry fruits to the country via the Attari-Wagah land route.
Pakistan allows import of 137 items from India through Attari-Wagah.
As per estimates, the total volume of trade between two nations via AttariWagah is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore per annum.
India and Pakistan had resumed cross border movement of trucks in October 2007 after a gap of sixty years from Attari check post at Amritsar in India to Wagah border in Pakistan.
An integrated check post was set up at AttariWagah border in 2012 with at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore for smooth movement of traffic.