New Delhi: Following strikes by truck, bus and fuel tanker drivers against new rules for hit-and-run cases, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said on Tuesday (January 2) evening that the government was holding discussions with representatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress.
“We [the government] would also like to say that we will implement section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita only after holding discussions with the All India Motor Transport Congress,” Bhalla also said according to news agency ANI.
Long queues at petrol stations in many parts of the country have been reported.
The Deccan Herald cited industry officials as saying that around 2,000 petrol stations, mostly located in northern and northwestern India, ran out of fuel as motorists were resorting to panic-buying.
Its report also cited station owners in Jammu and Kashmir as saying that fuel stocks were set to run dry as 1,500 tanker drivers who transport fuel to the Union territory were on strike.
Some strikers in Rajasthan clashed with police, the Press Trust of India reported.
“The police had gone to clear a traffic jam on Ajmer-Bhilwara highway when the mob pelted stones at the police, leaving three policemen injured. A vehicle of Kekri city [in Rajasthan] police station was also burnt,” PTI quoted an officer as saying.
Protesting drivers from across the country have expressed alarm at a provision in the new criminal law – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, (BNS) passed by parliament in the winter session to replace the Indian Penal Code – that deals with hit-and-run cases.
Section 106(2) of the BNS prescribes a ten-year prison term and a fine to those who cause the “death of any person by rash and negligent driving of vehicle not amounting to culpable homicide and escapes without reporting it to a police officer or a magistrate soon after the incident”.
A nationwide strike to protest this rule entered its second day on Tuesday.
Trucker and transport organisations have asked the Union government to take steps to address this issue before protests escalate, The Times of India reported.
Since Monday, protestors have blockaded roads and highways across states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, The Indian Express reported.
In West Bengal, hundreds of truckers blocked National Highway 2 near Dankuni toll plaza in Hooghly district for two hours on Sunday, burning tyres and parking their vehicles in the middle of the road, PTI reported.
“We appeal to drivers to maintain patience and uphold law and uphold law and order during this critical period. Our primary goal is to engage in constructive dialogue with the authorities to find a resolution that is fair,” Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC, India’s largest truckers’ body), was quoted by The Times of India as saying.
He continued: “We call upon the government to open channels for dialogue and work towards a solution that addresses concerns of all stakeholders.”
The newspaper also quoted a senior official of the All India Transporters’ Welfare Association as saying, “We have reached out to the home and transport ministries and other departments concerned. We understand that the law has several benefits but the few negative points will lead to immense harassment, extortion, unnecessary detention and legal consequences.”