Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla today announced a bonanza for the transporters on behalf of Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh who could not attend the Transporters Rally organised jointly by Ludhiana Goods Transport Association, Punjab Truck Operators Union, Punjab State Goods Transport Association, All Punjab Tempo & Mini Truck Union and Mini Bus Operators Association Punjab.
Addressing a mammoth Transporters Ekta Rally held here at Transport Nagar, Mr.Singla expressed regrets over the inability of Capt. Amarinder Singh to attend the rally who was keen to have interaction with the transporters who had converged here from all over India to express their solidarity with their fraternity in Punjab. He said that Capt. Singh had convened a high level meeting of officers to sort out the demands of the transporters in the morning at his official residence and directed him along with Local Government Minister Ch.Jagjit Singh, Transport Minister Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Malkiat Singh Birmi and Parliamentary Secretary Surinder Dawar in the form of delegation to attend the rally.
Mr.Singla said that the Chief Minister was fully seized of the genuine hardships faced by the transporters and discussed the memorandum submitted to him meticulously and took a prompt decision to announce few of the demands including to dismantle the Mobile wing of sales tax department immediately, doing away with the practice of detainment of trucks at sales tax barriers forthwith and the amnesty scheme for the one time settlement of the unpaid taxes without any penalty and fine besides the abolition of Octroi posts by the end of June. Mr.Singla also announced to grant Rs.5 crore to the transport department for setting up 10 rest houses with ultramodern facilities for the truckers on the different locations in the state, the land for which would be provided by the Local Government department. He also asked the Punjab Truck Operators Unions to constitute a committee of 5 to 7 members for the selection of site for these rest houses besides for the discussion of other demands and also promised to arrange a meeting with the Chief Minister at the earliest to sort out their remaining demands amicably. He said that transport department was the backbone of the Punjab's economy after agriculture. He said that the entire agricultural and industrial economy was dependant upon the transport. He said that Punjab Chief Minister was making all out efforts to boost industrial development in the State which would in turn also bring cheers and prosperity to the transport sector. He said that he was really moved by the concern shown by the transporters in prioritizing 'flight of industry from Punjab' as No.1 demand in their memorandum. He said that the Chief Minister had already taken up the matter with the Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh not to extend special benefits/incentives to the industry in Uttranchal, J&K and Himachal Pradesh beyond 2007 thereby stipulating a sunset clause.
Responding to the demand of truck operators to implement the orders of Supreme Court of India regarding the loading capacity 9 tonnes, Mr.Singla said that the State Government would direct the district administration to strictly enforce the direction of the Apex Court. "Prime responsibility lies with you because if you refused to load above 9 tones then the question of implementation of the Court orders does not arise at all', said Mr.Singla.
On the issue of non-insurance of the pre 1996 vehicles, Mr.Singla assured the transporters that he would soon take up the matter with Union Banking & Insurance Minister Pawan Bansal to sort it out to the advantage of truckers. Mr.Singla categorically said that it was the personal initiative and concerted efforts of the Chief Minister that the VAT on the diesel was slashed from 20% to 8.5% in Punjab. He said that Capt. Singh did not allow to further hike in cess of Petrol and diesel in the State. Mr.Singla also said that there was no target or quota fixed for the DTOs for revenue collection as alleged by the transporters. He vehemently said that if some DTO or any other official make such claims to justify their discretionary power of challaning should be brought either to his or Mr.Kaypee's notice.
Earlier, Transport Minister Mohinder Singh Kaypee assured the transporters that the Punjab Government had an open mind and they were welcome to discuss their problems with him as the Chief Minister was committed for their welfare realizing their role and contribution fully in the development of Punjab.
In his address, Local Government Minister Ch.Jagjit Singh announced Rs.1.85 crore for the development of Transport Nagar. He said that the Punjab Government was committed to develop Ludhiana transport nagar as a model in the State with all hi-tech infrastructure and civic amenities. He also assured the members of the various transport unions to review the issue of registration charges to be charged on the actual allotment prices of the plot instead of prevailing market rates.
Prominent among other who were spoke on the occasion, included Mr.Gurinder Pal Singh, Chairman, O.P.Aggarwal, Vice Chairman, Mr.Amarjit Singh Baweja, Mr.Shanmugappa, Mr.N.L.Gupta and G.M.Saxena all members of the All India Transport Congress, Mr.Charan Singh Lahora, Chairman, Mr.Bhupinder Singh Pandher President and Mr.Sarabjit Singh, General Secretary of Punjab State Goods Transport Association, Mr.Diljang Singh President, Shubash Gupta Vice Chairman and Harbhajan Singh patron of Ludhiana Goods Transport Association. Mr.Tarlochan Singh Parmar, President and Prem Singh Banur , General Secretary of Punjab Trucks Operation Union and Kirla Singh Sandhu, President All Punjab Tempo & Mini Truck Union. Besides Mayor Nahr Singh Gill, Mr.D.C.Upadhyay, Regional Manager North Ashok Leyland and Chairman Hero Cycles O.P.Munjal were also spoke on the occasion.
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