Transport strike across Kerala hits trade, passengers

Thiruvananthapuram, May 20 : Pasengers in Kerala were hit hard as the transport sector went on a day-long strike to protest the rceent hike in petrol prices.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday agreed to give a rebate of Rs.1.22, the sales tax portion on the increased hike of Rs.5 per litre and requested the transporters to withdraw the strike. But the transport unions refused to budge.

The dawn to dusk strike call given by the Joint Action Council of Motor Transport Workers (JACMTW) and various unions in the transport sector, both state-owned and private, was also backed by the opposition Left parties.

Petrol prices in the last 11 months have gone up by 30 per cent, said K.K. Divakaran, a senior trade union leader and former Communist Party of India (Marxist) legislator.

Life remained crippled in the state as people could not find a single public transport to move about.

Most shops across the state remained shut. Passengers arriving at the railway station here found it difficult to reach their destinations. Patients going to hospitals also faced problems with all buses and auto-rickshaws remaining off roads.

--IANS

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