Shimla, Apr 6 (PTI) Traffic was disrupted at a few places in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district as private bus, taxi, truck and auto drivers went on a strike on Monday, demanding a vehicle fitness certificate centre in all tehsils of the district.
The protestors, who shouted slogans against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said the Road Transport Office (RTO) and Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) offices, which had been providing vehicle fitness certificates in Kangra earlier, were shut down.
“The state government has forced us to hold a strike,” said Ashok Sharma, president of the McLeod Ganj Taxi Union, demanding a written assurance from the authorities concerned that more centres will be established.
He said there is immense resentment among taxi, bus and other commercial vehicle drivers, who are now compelled to travel all the way to Dehra to get their vehicles certified.
With Kangra being a large district and Dehra being quite far away, vehicle operators are being forced to stay in Dehra for two days just to complete the vehicle passing process, causing them significant inconvenience, he said.
The movement of private buses, taxis and other commercial vehicles came to a complete standstill in Kangra on Monday morning.
The protesters warned that if the government fails to accede to their demands, the agitation will escalate and take on a much larger scale.
“We will resort to chakka jam — blocking roads and highways — if our demand is not met,” said a taxi driver.
BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma extended support to protesters in Dharamshala and said the government should withdraw its decision to shut down the RTO and MVI offices, as it is unjustifiable and incorrect in every respect.
Kangra Additional District Magistrate Shilpi Bekta and Additional Superintendent of Police Rajinder Kumar Jaswal also visited the protest site in Dharamshala and tried to pacify the agitators.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued later in the day, Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Anurag Sharma and Baijnath MLA Kishori Lal said the issue regarding Automated Testing Stations (ATS) was raised with Chief Minister Sukhu, and a sympathetic solution to the problem of commercial vehicle owners will be found after his return from Assam.
They said the ATS project was approved by the Central government. As Kangra is the largest district in terms of population, the facility was established in Ranital (near Dehra), and plans are in place to set it up in other regions as well.
The state government had also written to the Centre, requesting that the old system of vehicle checking by motor vehicle inspectors be allowed to continue alongside the ATS, since only a single ATS facility has been established for the entire state currently. However, the Centre did not accept this suggestion, the statement said. PTI BPL RUK RUK
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