Ramesh Kumar from New Delhi
It's over. Yes, it's over.
Am talking about the indefinite strike call given by All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners' Association or ACOGOA.. The angst of fleet owners was against the incessant diesel price hike and daily revision, higher third party insurance premium and continuous increake toll fees.
ACOGOA has actually called off the strike, but prefers to phrase it diplomatically as "postponed". General Secretary Rajendra Singh and President Channa Reddy in their joint statement on 21 June (on the fourth day of strike) say: "As we have received telephone call from central ministry, that since the minister is not in the station till 27.6.2018 to call off the strike and come to discussion after 27.06.2018. In view of this and in the public interest, we have postpone (sic) the truckers strike."
One phone call from the Ministry of Road Transport & HIghways on the fourth day did the trick. Why did the caller wait for four days is not a mystery at all for those who understand the nuances of government working.
In the run upto any strike, the government machinery - read the Intelligence Bureau - gets into play with them conversing with strikers informally. One, try to gauge the seriousness of the strikers'intent and secondly, to find ways and means to avert any such activities that can cause public distress in howsoever small measure.Damage control, yes.
Simultaneously, the strikers also keen to know the government stance. Will it accede to our demand, however genuine the laundry list maybe? Put it differently, every striking party is keen on one thing: an exit path. Indefinite does not mean infinity!
Something similar to the private equity players. Even before they actually put in money, they work out an exit path: when, where and how.
In a similar fashion, every striking party works out an exit path - call it, a face saving formula - even before the launch date. That is when to call off and go back to routine work. Strike is huge risk and a big gamble. It may work. May not. No lobby group or trade unions want egg on their face.
It is a different matter altogether whether transport lobby groups are of businessmen or workers? If the former, it is unheard of businessmen going on a work stoppage. They sit across the table and negotiate. Convince or get convinced. In fact, this dichotomy is glaring and mandarins in the government always wonder about the character of the transport lobbies.
Am scratching my grey cells to figure out whether the industry lobby groups (Assocham, CII, FICCI at the apex level) has ever called for an industrial shutdown to get their concerns addressed ever. Certainly, the industry has their own massive laundry list. They do meet with the respective ministries at regular intervals with no photo ops to convey their viewpoint and get the bureaucrats to modify their previous stance.
Yes, the tension builds up- mostly on the striking party. Particularly if the striking organisation does not have total control over its constituent members. Leave aside the multiplicity of associations in the same segment who are not in friendly terms and have their own agenda. Why only in transportation segment? The case is same in every industry. Disputes are not uncommon among siblings.
All said and done, ACOGOA is one of the three transport lobby groups, representing the interests of fleet owners with more focus, unlike its rivals whose reach and constituents encompass every single segment of transport ecosystem including fleet owners.
By the way, All India Motor Transport Congress or AIMTC, the biggest lobby group, is gearing up for its own indefinite strike from July 20. Their mobilisation drive is in full bloom. Its laundry list of course also covers the concerns of ACOGOA and beyond.
Big boys have big laundry list.
Let us examine what was the response of indefinite strike called by ACOGOA? A day after the strike launch, says:
"North East has completely gone on a standstill as it is the only gateway from West Bengal. About 30,000 vehicles moving in and out from north east are therefore stopped. In Maharashtra, the markets have reported prices of vegetables like onion undergoing sharp increases. Even Delhi today has reported stoppage of 4,000 vehicles at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Terminal."
Well, that's not the end. Hearken this:
"Taking off from yesterday, West Bengal continues under complete chakka jam allover the state. In Karnataka also, the situation continues to be encouraging with vehicle movement continuing to be stopped all over. Mr R Sugumar, President, TNLOF informed that out of about 5 lakh vehicles 3 lakh vehicles are stopped," says ACOGOAspokesperson.
In totality, Ganesh claims that "there are now above 50 lakh estimated vehicles that have stopped which will mean a loss of about more than Rs.1,000 crore to the lorry owners."
Total shutdown of West Bengal is unsurprising, given the state's high agitation quotient. Was the three lakh vehicles going off the highways in Tamilnadu noticed? Doubtful. Forget about rival bodies, even general public living on the fringes of state and national highways passing through the entire state did not see highways devoid of trucks.
Forget that. These are all hearsay.
I was travelling from Gandhidham to Ahmedabad (325 km) by road on 18 June - the day the strike commenced - and watched normal truck movement on the entire stretch. Again, in NCR, I did not see commercial vehicles going off the busiest National Highway 8 linking Delhi with Jaipur on 19 and 20 June.
All India strike by transport strikes can be effective only if all the three bodies come together with a clear agenda and a token strike for a day or two. Certainly not an "indefinite strike". No fleet owner will be interested for long duration agitation. None of them have the financial muscle to withstand losses. Stopping the movement of truck means mainly loss of business for that day plus other commitments such as EMI for vehicle purchase, driver salary. Work stoppage does not automatically lead to financiers offering a "moratorium" till the work resumes. Nor drivers can be allowed to park vehicles and go home because none has an iota of idea when the "indefinite" strike will be called off.
Barring a few states, none of the lobby groups have invested or groomed leadership at the grassroot level. A typical Indian National Congress syndrome. Top heavy, bottom hollow.
What about their demands? Certainly genuine.
Let me take you back to 1979 in the United States when truckers went on a nationwide strike. Exactly, 40 years ago (22 June 1979), President Jimmy Carter said: "The truckers have many legitimate concerns... The key problems that face the truckers are the same as those that face all of us: too little fuel at too high price."
The word 'indefinite' can be interpreted anyway one likes. It can be one day to one week to one month to whatever one's holidng capacity to stay from earning money in any business.
It took almost three months for the Carter administration to restore normalcy through various policy initiatives including Special Rule #9 roll out to ensure fuel for the farmers(!) primarily keeping food security in mind. Transporters came only after that at the the Iranian Revolution and the OPEC price hike at that time.
Did the four day stirke impact the industry, basically the end users or the public? Nope. Any strike to succeed needs a strong leadership coupled with grassroot support. None of the lobby groups can claim that credit, notwithstanding the "All India" tag in their names.
No, am not sarcastic. It's a ground reality.
Interacting with long haul truck drivers at multiple points in India during these four days, we found the sadak sepoys have no clue about the "indefinite strike". Basically, their motor maliks never asked them to stop loading and moving.
Generals can sketch grandiose plans. Ultimately, the foot soldiers have to execute.That connect is found missing in ACOGOA case. Will AIMTC gearing up for July 20 indefinite chakka jam make it a success? Worth watching.
By the way, ACOGOAmanaged to get an "exit" pass. For the time being that is. Because, they said, the indefinite strike is not called off, but "postponed".
Will NItin Gadkari on his return from foreign trip apply balm to the wounded transporters next week?
Let's wait and watch.📌
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