In a major relief to the commuters of Kolkata, the private bus and minibus operators in the city have withdrawn their 72- hour strike that was supposed to start tomorrow. Earlier, last month five private and bus unions operating over five thousand vehicles in and around the city had announced they would go on a three-day strike from 18 March if their demands were not answered by then.
The strike was called by the members of the ‘Gana Paribahan Bachao Committee’, which is a joint forum of five different private bus and minibus operators’ unions. Following the strike call given by the members belonging to the five unions, namely Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, Bengal Bus Syndicate, West Bengal Bus and Mini Bus Owners’ Association, Mini Bus Owners’ Coordination Committee and Inter Intra Region Bus Association, around 4,000 buses were expected to go off the city roads.
The strike was to have been observed in demand of the extension of time for plying of 15-year-old vehicles. According to the operators, they were unable to ply the vehicles for two years due to the Covid pandemic. They are claiming that after the Covid getting over, the transport sector was being crippled gradually due to hike in fuel prices and other expenses. If the 15-year-old buses were phased out in the present scenario, the transport sector in the city and districts would collapse. The suspension of services has been now called off by the private operators.
According to the joint secretary of the Minibus operators Co-ordination Committee, the decision comes after the announcement of general election dates yesterday by the Election Commission of India. “With the announcement of the dates of the general elections and the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct with it we have decided to call off the strike,” said one of the leaders of the private bus unions. “We will take a decision on the matter after the Lok Sabha polls,” he added.