Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 1, 2015 : Transport through trucks will come to a grinding halt in the state with the truckers deciding to go on an indefinite strike from June 9 midnight.

A meeting between the Odisha State Truck Owners’ Federation (OSTOF) and the state government ended inconclusive on Monday.

“Talks with the Transport minister failed today. We would go on an indefinite state-wide stir from June 9,” general secretary of the Federation Rabi Satpathy told media persons here.

A delegation of OSTOF held discussions with state commerce and transport minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi here with their 11-point charter of demands that included revocation of a controversial circular issued by the department with immediate effect.

The circular by the transport commissioner provides cancellation of fitness certificate, road permit and the registration certificate (RC) of a truck in the event of an accident, pending investigation to which the Federation is strongly opposed.

Meanwhile, transport minister Ramesh Majhi urged the truck owners to call off the proposed strike saying the government would consider their demands sympathetically.

“The truck owners’ association should not resort to strike in the larger interest of the people. We are aware of their concerns and would take appropriate steps after discussion with concerned departments,” Majhi said after the meeting.

The other demands of the truck owners are construction of truck terminals for parking, addressing inconveniences faced by them while transporting goods, streamlining and making the transport system transparent, amendment of circular issued by Transport Commissioner, e-registration, creating awareness on driving and motor vehicles at regional transport offices while renewing driving license of drivers, fixation of minimum freight charges for transportation of mineral and non-mineral cargo and formulation of a policy to fix the ratio of minerals transported through trucks vis-a-vis with other modes of transportation, among others.