Transporters’ strike affects employment

BEGUSARAI: The ongoing transporters’ strike has rendered many a people unemployed in a poor state like Bihar, said the District Transporters’ Association chief Ram Chandra Singh.
The district chief while talking to this correspondent recently at the local Sadar hospital said the road-tax hike in Bihar is too heavy for a transporter to accept.
Illustrating his point, Singh said the fare of Patna from Begusarai will go up to around Rs 135 after the hike in road-tax whereas the fare of the Jan Shatabadi Express train with better facilities is merely Rs 102 for a similar distance.
According to the district chief, nearly one lakh people including those running roadside business and dhabas has been rendered unemployed as nearly 2,500 transporters with around four thousand vehicles in Begusarai district proceeded on strike.
According to Singh, how a transporter will earn profit in the state where he has to pay ransom amount to ‘rangdars’ of various localities besides police and DTOs for running their vehicles.
He said the deplorable condition of roads in the state adds to the cost of the transporters as the tyres and various parts of the bus do not last the expected period.
According to him, if the government does not withdraw the steep hike in the road-tax, only those transporters will run their business in the state who have not to pay the new tax.