Lorry strike called off

Kottayam, Apr 6 (UNI) The five-day old lorry strike in the state has been called off.

A decision in this regard was taken after a two-hour discussion between the Lorry Owners' Association leaders and State Transport Minister Mathew T Thomas here tonight.

On the basis of the Minister's assurance to consider the lorry owners various demands, the lorry owners decided to call off the strike.

Regarding the demand for reducing the Road Tax, the Minister said the tax was revised after a gap of ten years and since the revised tax was already implemented in the state he had to discuss with the Finance Minister to take a decision on it.

Regarding implementation of speed governor, Minster said since the case was under the consideration of the Supreme Court the government could not take a decision now.

Regarding all other demands the Minister had assured to take suitable decisions after consulting the Civil Supplies Minister.

Association President P Ramachandran, General Secretary Chandrasekharan, Jacob Mani, Jayaprakash and other leaders of the Lorry Owners Association and MLA V N Vasavan participated in the discussion.

UNI