Wednesday, 07 August 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Transport Ministerial Employees Union initiated a work boycott on Tuesday, affecting all transport offices across the State. Over 600 transport workers participated in the boycott, resulting in an estimated Rs 2.5 crore loss to the State government on the first day of the protest, the general secretary of the union Vinod Chamoli claimed. The union’s work boycott is in response to the suspension of four transport officials. These officials were alleged to have been negligent during checking in Rishikesh which reportedly led to the accident in Rudraprayag on June 15 resulting in the death of 16 tourists.
Chamoli said that the union has been demanding for the immediate cancellation of these suspensions. He said that as per the lead agency’s report, which formed the basis for the suspensions, also implicated police and Public Works Department (PWD) personnel. However, no disciplinary actions have been taken against them. Chamoli said, “The Transport department appears to be under pressure to hold someone accountable for the accident due to which transport officers became an unfair target of the authorities while other involved parties remain unpunished. The police personnel, who were also deployed at the checkpoint and along the route, have not been held accountable.” He further stated that the lead agency’s report clearly indicated that overspeeding and driver fatigue or lack of sleep were the primary causes of the accident—factors beyond the control of the transport officials. He also informed that senior department officials requested the union to resume work on Tuesday, promising to address the issue on Friday.
However, Chamoli criticised this approach, noting the delay in addressing such a critical matter. He said, “This is the height of ignorance from the department. When the officials have been suspended for weeks and the union has started a work boycott across the State from Tuesday, why do senior officials want to wait four more days to have this important conversation with us?”. He said that the union will not cancel its work boycott until the suspensions are lifted. He also claimed that the continued protest over the next three days will result in an additional financial loss of approximately Rs 13 crore to the State government.
