Commuters have been suffering immensely as transport workers started a 48-hour countrywide work abstention on Sunday to press home their eight-point demand mainly related to bringing amendments to the recently passed Road Transport Act-2018. No public transport except some government-run BRTC buses and CNG-run auto-rickshaws were seen plying the city streets.
City dwellers, especially office-goers and students, have to face trouble to reach their destination due to lack of transport, witnesses said. Transport workers were also seen obstructing private cars and vehicles offering ride sharing services like Uber and Pathao near Ghuntighor at Notun Rasta in Jurain and Shanir Akhra in the morning. The demonstrators allegedly forced many commuters of private cars and auto-rickshaws to go to their destinations on foot and also smeared burnt mobil on some of the passengers’ and drivers’ faces in different parts of city including Shanir Akhra, the witnesses said. Several school-college going female students were also harassed by them. Several private cars were painted with liquid bitumen.
The demands include making all offences under the Road Transport Act “bailable”, cancellation of the provision that allows a worker to be fined Tk 5 lakh for involvement in a road accident, changing the minimum educational qualification required to obtain driving licences from class-VIII to class-V, and ending harassment by police on roads.
Of course Parliament passed the law to ensure that transport workers would be more conscientious and worried when driving to ensure that deaths did not continue unabated on the highways and roads. Cancellation of the provisions of the Road Transport Act would embolden them to go back to their old ways of driving recklessly.
It is clear that the government has no way to change its mind and retract the provisions of the law at this moment. At best the transport workers will continue to enforce sufferings on the common public for one week, perhaps a bit more. In the end the economic pressures of not working will take a heavy toll on the transport workers as they live mostly hand to mouth and thus they will come back once again to the streets.
We must say, the government can’t bow down to the illogical pressure of transport workers who are apparently under control of two ministers. Nobody can be spared without any challenge for making hostage the common people.
