Drivers protest in Odisha: Govt assures to resolve demands in 3 months

Bhubaneswar: Taking a serious note of the ongoing strike of the Odisha Driver Ekata Mahasangha, the Odisha Government today assured the protesters to resolve their demands in three months.

The decision to resolve the drivers’ demands in three months was taken during a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena with the members of the drivers’ association in the presence of other senior officers at Lok Seva Bhawan.

The Driver Ekata Mahasangha had launched an indefinite strike yesterday over their 10-point charter of demands. Their protest had paralyzed the public and commercial transport across the State.

Passengers and daily commuters along with several good carriages were left stranded as the striking drivers blocked the national and state expressways at different places.

Speaking about the development, Odisha Driver Ekata Mahasangha’s Khurda district unit’s secretary Babula Tripathy said that we have received a written assurance from the Government. Earlier, we were given vocal assurance but our demands were not fulfilled. “We hope the State government will fulfill our demands,” he said.

Meanwhile, the State government also constituted a task force under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Police DG, and Development Commissioner among others to take necessary action to ensure the free movement of essential commodities.