Chandigarh: The Transport Department of Punjab has fixed new rates for the transportation of sand, gravel and minerals, drawing ire from the transporters. Earlier the government had opened a sand and gravel procurement centre. Now new rates are fixed which has reportedly hit the transporters hard. The opposition parties have already raised various questions on it.
Talking to ETV Bharat, transporter Rimple Pakka said the new policy will directly harm the transporters as registration of vehicles has been made compulsory. It is not made it clear how the government will fix the rates. "Depending on the kilometres or wherever the vehicle goes. Toll fee is higher at some places. Some places it consumes more diesel, some places it is less. We charge according to our own calculations, why will we take as per the Government rates?" he asked.
Rimple Pakka said that government wants to make the transport owners and workers unemployed. "The government is considering every businessman is a thief. The transport industry is already on deathbed in Punjab. State should do a survey to see how much the government is collecting from the trucks within a radius of 100 km. They should do a survey for all trucks, not only sand and gravel," he added.
The transporters said that the government has fixed the rate for 50 km and 100 km. In which a difference of 10 rupees was found. The transporters question how it would be possible to go with 10 rupees in 50 km.
Rimple Pakka said that the transporters do not force the customer to buy sand or gravel and the customer would not buy if the rates are high. If transporters charge high rates, their work will also get affected, he added. If sand and gravel are available, construction continues. The contractor takes the tender only after seeing the market rate, normally all the rates are fixed, he said.
Expressing serious concern, the transporter said, "No government has ever consulted us before making any policy. The government did not set up any committee for us and did not make any coordination. They are killing us." He said that he himself owns 12 vehicles since 2015. There are 2 such vehicles, which are not running, and if there was profit, the vehicles would have been on the roads.
Rimple Pakka said the government does not need to go to the customer to sell goods. "There has been looting at the mining site, gravel is being sold at 30 rupees per foot and the rent of the truck driver is being reduced. The one who gives money to the officers is doing what he wants. There is a lot of competition among those who carry and sell goods, if one is selling for 100 rupees then the other is selling for 90 rupees. In competition, the rate does not increase as it is, how can the government fix the rate?", he asked.
Taking strong objection, Rimple Pakka said that the government is not restricting big fish and there is no harm in this policy for mining and crushers. He questioned Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar how many National Permits were taken in the last 7 years and how many were taken this time. How much vehicle tax came last time and how much came this time. "Leaving the figures, tell how many vehicles are running. How many new vehicles were used earlier and how many were used this time. Control the sand at the sand pits, don't hit the truckers," he suggested.
While talking to ETV Bharat, Bhulath MLA and Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira said that the government's mining policy is a complete failure. In the last one year, the construction material was not available to the general public at all, due to which all the development works were stopped. Over 65 kms of new roads were being laid in Bhulath constituency. The work has been stopped for the last 1 year, because the mining material is unavailable. Even if it is available then it is four to five times higher than the market rate, the MLA said.
Sukhpal Khaira has said that the mining policy will also fail miserably just like other policies of the government. He claimed that the government's income will not increase with this policy and it will be forced to do a big U-turn on this policy too.
