The main issue, that forced unions and federations under various central trade unions including LPF and independents to protest, is about the new Bill the NDA government wants to be passed urgently.
The Bill – Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014 – is intended to replace the existing Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The Bill according to its aims and objectives is “to reduce the road accidents and fatalities, to boost the GDP growth and to create lakhs of employment to youth”.
The Road Transport Minister, who wanted this Bill to be adopted in the budget session has said that his aim is to “make the entire sector transparent.” He had also said that “when enacted the new law would overhaul the sector bringing in transparency besides curbing malpractices”. He has also projected 4 per cent GDP improvement on account of increased efficiency and safety of road transport. The vision of the Bill, according to him, is to create 10 lakh jobs.
The magic wand to ensure safety on the road is hefty fines up to Rs 3 lakh and imprisonment up to seven years to the drivers. According to the Minister, this one enactment will “provide safe, efficient, cost effective and faster transport across the country” which he says is their mission.
But, the trade unions in the country, certain State governments, officials in the transport departments of the State governments, State government owned PSUs and motor vehicle owners organisations do not consider this Bill as something that can result in achievements as projected by the Minister.
Trade unions took initiative to bring out the retrograde aspects of the bill – the attacks on the workers; taking away the rights of the State governments and handing it over to various authorities; a sure death knell for the 54 State road transport undertakings in the country and the hefty fine and punishment to all drivers, both private and service sector. In total, this Bill is against the interests of four crores of road transport workers, private transport owners, public sector undertakings, passengers and the general public.
At least some of the State governments have raised objections to the Bill when it was discussed in the National Transport Development Council and National Road Safety Council. The State Transport Ministers, in the above said meeting on October 28, 2014, had listed his opposition to the new bill saying that it encroaches on the powers of the state. The role of the state government, of state transport corporations have been totally obliterated and powers of state governments are being handed over to national authorities. They had also pointed out that “the rationale to introduce such drastic changes and throw away lock, stock and barrel the existing provisions in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 is totally unwarranted.”
There is no expediency to repeal the existing Act and certain amendments can be made. They said that they wholly objected to the proposed Bill from being enacted in the Parliament on the ground of vires of constitutional provisions and also the public interests that would be jeopardised throughout the country”.
The role of state transport corporations has been totally obliterated and the ability of state transport corporations (STUs) to provide affordable transport facilities to the common man, particularly the marginalised, downtrodden and those in remote areas, will be in jeopardy. The anti-people Bill will harm the interest of the poorest sections of the society and it envisages privatisation of licensing procedures, which will be detrimental to the safety and security of the people and their welfare.
The open tender system for operating vehicles in each schemes eliminate STUs and the concessions enjoyed by public in travel will come to an end. Lakhs of private bus operators will also be washed out and the entire sector will be monopolised by corporate entities. In the private sector, transport workers including auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers are under self -employment schemes and they too will be affected on implementation of the Bill.
The protections given to state transport corporations through an Act of Parliament in 1950 are sought to be taken away by the new Bill and wherever state undertakings are functioning fairly, extensively and efficiently like in Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, etc. the available protections should not be taken away.
A short-term management at the top with bureaucrats cannot see beyond their nose. A transport worker is among the hardest working among the labour force. To drive a bus for seven hours or be a conductor without even sitting for the entire duty is indeed physically and mentally draining. Before preparation of the Bill no prior discussions were held with anybody including transport experts, STUs and legal experts. All advanced countries finance public transport. In the US, 80 percent expenditure in transport sector is subsidised by the federal government and 10 percent by local governments. In Holland and Hungary, free service facility is made by the government around the town area. Our government should take lessons from these countries before formulating a new Bill.
Transport is a key sector and all other key sectors like agriculture, industry, health, education, defence and tourism depend on it. It is not only a key sector, but all other major sectors also depend on it. Public transport is ideally suited for India. Nearly 85 percent of people depend on public transport (private and STCs) as motor vehicle ownership in the country is just above 15 percent. Due to poor income levels, meagre road space, high traffic density, shortage of fuel, STU buses are ideal in India. Public transport costs less, needs less urban space, less energy intensive, and less polluted.
The new Bill replaces the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and the protection clauses are being taken away. The 53 STUs (24 RTCs, 7 municipal undertakings, 9 Govt. Departments, 13 Companies), that employ over 7.5 lakh workers with 1.20 lakh buses, have an investment of Rs 50,000 crore and carry 2,500 crores passengers annually, will be closed down on implementation of the new Bill.
Yesterdays’ illegal operation will become legal with the new Bill. The implication is that the minimum fare distance of travel will be fixed at 50 km. Small capacity vehicles (Maxi Cabs, Sumos, Mahindra, Jeeps) will enter the market as stage carriages, all public transport vehicles (private & STC buses) will be eliminated. On entry of small vehicles, there will be traffic congestion, environment and safety problems. The STCs in India accounts for 15 percent and private sector is 85 percent. In the private sector, the Motor Transport Workers Act is violated and poor wages still prevail. There is no clause to address these problems in the new Bill. Public transport is more political than technical and the need of the hour is more STCs with more financial assistance for the best interest of the common man.
The draft Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 has been formulated and put in the public domain without assessing the ground realities prevailing in the country. In the name of road safety, the intention of the BJP regime is to take over the entire core transport sector under the Union Government and to privatise the entire system by handing it over to the corporate sector.
The Bill will affect crores of workers and people using two-wheelers to multi-axle vehicles. This black law is opposed to public interest, constitutional provisions and federal set up and warrants united protests by all democratic people of India. (10-05-15)
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