Finance
The “Quit Steering Wheel” protest has been called off by the Odisha Drivers’ Mahasangha. After a productive meeting on Saturday with Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur, the Mahasangha decided to end its agitation.
The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) “hit-and-run” law has sparked significant protests across India. Today, the Odisha Drivers’ Mahasangh declared that its state-wide agitation demanding the immediate revocation of the law will continue as before, with an indefinite duration.
This was almost immediately followed by the announcement that the strike had been called off by Odisha Amitabh Thakur, the Transport Commissioner.
Prasanta Menduli, Mahasangha’s president has appealed to the Mahasangha’s members to withdraw from the ‘Quit Steering Wheel’ agitation as the State government has fulfilled their demands.
Menduli, however, maintained that the Mahasangha would make its stand against the Centre’s new ‘hit and run’ law clear on Monday.
“Discussions are still underway with both the State and Central governments. The stir will continue as our demands have not been met,” the outfit president Prashant Menduli clarified.
“We discussed with the State government only certain points of our demands, but the law has not been revoked. Hence, the ‘quit-steering’ agitation will not be withdrawn,” Menduli added.
“The State-wide agitation of drivers has been called off. Drivers who had joined the strike will resume work in the next two hours and bus services will return to normalcy. The strike was called off after the State government complied with the demands of the protesting drivers. A Drivers’ Welfare Fund has been formed and cheques to be given from the fund will be disbursed,” the Transport Commissioner said earlier in the day while addressing mediapersons.
It is noteworthy that since Monday, truck drivers in a number of states have protested the “tough clause.” The Mahasangh has offered its endorsement for giving up steering.
A two-year prison sentence was previously allowed under Section 304 of the IPC.
Hit-and-run incidents may result in ten years in prison or a fine of Rs. 7 lakhs under the BNS, according to rules outlined in the new law. The new law made it clear that drivers who cause accidents and then flee the scene without reporting them to the appropriate authorities would be subject to harsh penalties.
