Transport strike hits normal life in Assam

Normal life in Assam was hit by the 24-hour long nationwide strike called by various transport unions against the proposed Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015, with private buses, shared taxis and trucks keeping off the roads.
No untoward incident has been reported so far, police officials said.
Except for the government-run Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) vehicles, all private operated city buses and long distance buses as well as shared taxis did not ply.
However, radio taxi services were running as usual, the service operators said.
The strike has been called jointly by national-level road transport organisations representing both public and private sector workers, which were affiliated to central trade unions like, AITUC, CITU, BMS, INTUC, HMS, AICCTU, LPF and state-level outfits.

Opposing various provisions of the Bill, including obtaining of fitness certificates even for light motor vehicles regularly, the unions were also against the stringent penalties proposed for road accidents.