Hike Fares For Vehicle Requisition: All Assam Motor Transport Association (AAMTA)

GUWAHATI: The All Assam Motor Transport Association (AAMTA) has threatened the State Government that it will resort not to cooperate with the latter during the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls if the fares of vehicles to be requisitioned during the poll and allowances of vehicle crew members are not hiked by this March.

In a statement issued to the press on Monday, AAMTA secretary general Pradip Das said: “Dispur continues to turn a deaf ear to our repeated pleas for hiking crew members’ allowances and fares of vehicles being requisitioned for election duty. The rates that were fixed in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election are too meagre now. The daily allowances of per driver and per conductor fixed in 2014 are Rs 250 and 200 respectively. Since such crew members have to remain present in their vehicles round the clock during election duty, the allowances fixed for them are too small to meet their daily cost. The same is the case with vehicle fares.”

Das said that on September 14, 2018 the Association had appealed to the government for hiking fares of requisitioned vehicles and allowances of their crew members. “We repeated the same plea to the government on November 26, 2018. That time around, the State Election Commissioner sent our application to the State Transport Commissioner for consideration. However, the department hasn’t done anything as yet. On February 21 this year, we requested the government for 50 per cent hike in fares of vehicles to be used in law-and-order and poll duty and 100 per cent hike in the allowances of vehicles crew members’ allowances. If our demand is not met within March, we may resort not to cooperate in the poll process.”

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