Demand for toll-free movement
Indefinite lorry strike from July 20
Bengaluru, July 18: Owners of the commercial goods lorries called for an indefinite strike from July 20 across the country demanding toll-free movement and reduction in insurance premium and bringing diesel under GST.
Speaking to reporters at the Press Club here on Wednesday, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association president GR Shanmugappa said that despite submitting memorandums to the central government several times seeking fulfillment of their demands, no action was taken. This attitude of the government has forced the lorry owners to call for indefinite strike once again, he said.
The country has total 412 toll-gates and annually, the lorry owners have to pay Rs 1.2 lakh crore as toll fee. They were ready to pay the toll fee, but the payment method should be changed. Around one crore commercial vehicles were passing through toll-gates. They were ready to pay the 50 per cent of the toll fee in advance and they should be given free movement in all toll gates. This would help the government get thousands of crores revenue annually, he said.
If the government imposed just Re 1 cess per litre of diesel of commercial vehicle plying in the country, the government could have collected Rs 13,000 crore and if it was doubled, the cess revenue would be Rs 26,000 crore. With this, the government could make toll-free movement. Normally, the lorries would have to stop at least 15-20 minutes in tollgate. A lorry which travels from Bengaluru to New Delhi has to waste around 14 hours in tollgates due to which, the diesel was being wasted. Around Rs 84,000 crore was being wasted on diesel, vehicle repair and tollgate maintenance, he said.
All associations like Bus Owners Association, Vegetables Transportation Lorry Owners Association and others have extended their support to the indefinite strike. Except the service of essential commodities like medicines and milk, more than 90 lakh lorries in the country and 6 lakh lorries in the state would stay off the roads, he said.
Demands
- Goods vehicles should be made toll-free
- Diesel price should be brought under GST and adopt tri-monthly review system
- TDS should be cancelled and advance payment method should be introduced.
- Problem in the e-way bill system should be sorted out.
- Tourist vehicles and buses should be given national permits.
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BJP stages walkout in Karnataka assembly over 'non-disbursal' of Gruha Lakshmi payout
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.
The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.
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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.
The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.
The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.
As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.
When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.
Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.
"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.
"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.
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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.
Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.
The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.
Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.
Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.
