Tempo drivers demonstrated at Koderma Collectorate, demanded a ban on Toto on National Highway

Koderma, July 22 (HS). Under the banner of CITU and Jharkhand Transport Workers Union, the Tempo Drivers Association on Monday demonstrated at the Collectorate and demanded a ban on running Toto on the National Highway. Before this, a procession was taken out from the Collectorate premises. Passing through Ranchi Patna Road, Subdivision Office, slogans were raised in front of the District Transport Office. Later, after reaching the Collectorate, the procession turned into a sit-in demonstration.

Addressing the meeting chaired by Jharkhand Transport Mazdoor Union District President Mohammad Rafiq, the main speaker, CITU State Secretary Sanjay Paswan said that tempo drivers have been fighting for their demands for many months. Two weeks ago, CITU and the union's representation met the District Transport Officer regarding these demands, in which he had assured immediate action but no action was taken. Autos run in railway station premises all over the country but in Jhumritilaiya there is a different arrangement. Here too, a tempo stand should be built at the railway station itself.

CITU district president Prem Prakash said that Toto runs on battery. Therefore it can carry even one passenger while Tempo runs on diesel and petrol, which incurs loss if run without passengers. Due to Toto they do not get passengers further also. District general secretary Ramesh Prajapati said that the routes of Tempo and Toto should be different so that both can be sustained. After the demonstration, a six member delegation met the District Transport Officer and submitted a memorandum of demands, on which he assured concrete action within three days.

Present in the program were Mahendra Turi of Mica Workers Union, District President of Auto Rickshaw Transport Association Dharmendra Singh, Vice President Hira Singh, District Secretary of Jharkhand Transport Mazdoor Union Chandan Kumar Singh, Vijay Sharma, Mahesh Ram, Shiva Rajak, Sanjay Kumar, Shankar Thakur, Dinesh Sahu, Chetlal Sahu, Vikas Kumar Sharma, Bhatu Singh, Ajay Yadav, Ashok Yadav, Raju Sahu, Mahendra Yadav, Suresh Gupta, Rajkumar Sahu, Liaquat Ali, Ashish Das, Ramchandra Pandit and other tempo drivers.