Nitin Gadkari to meet transport associations on September 30 in a bid to avert October 1 strike

NEW DELHI: The government has called transport associations for final talks on September 30 in a bid to avert the proposed nationwide strike called by truckers the next day to protest the toll collection system on national highways.

Roads, highways and transport minister Nitin Gadkari along with roads secretary Vijay Chhibber will meet the leaders of the associations at Transport Bhavan later in the day, officials said.

Truck operators across the country have called for a strike to press for their demand that toll be collected once a year.

The All India Motor Transport Congress, which says it represents 93 lakh truckers and 50 lakh bus operators, has said that the toll collection system has become a tool for illegal collection and harassment.

"The minister will hold a detailed meeting with associations today. We expect that the issue will be resolved,” said a senior government official. If the truckers go ahead with the strike, the country could suffer huge losses as transportation of essential commodities will come to a halt.

"We will take the final call after meeting the minister. As of now we have no plans of cancelling the strike," Bhim Wadhwa, president of AIMTC told ET. The transporters’ body said that frequent stoppages of transport vehicles at toll barriers results in loss of man hours worth Rs 27,000 crore and fuel loss worth Rs 60,000 crore every year.