Bhubaneswar: The Drivers’ Ekata Mahasangha today announced the withdrawal of its ongoing indefinite ‘quit steering’ strike.
Drivers’ Ekata Mahasangha’s president Prasanta Menduli announced the withdrawal of the strike keeping in view the government’s assurance to consider their demands within three months and the inconvenience caused to the public.
“Respecting the state government’s written assurance on the fulfilment of our demands and in view of the problems faced by the public, we have decided to call off our agitation for 90 days,” Menduli said.
“If our issues are not resolved in three months, we will self-immolate in a mass before Naveen Niwas, the residence of the chief minister,” he warned.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena held a meeting with the agitating drivers on Thursday evening and assured them that their demands will be resolved in three months.
Earlier in the day, Jena and DGP Sunil Bansal had appealed to the drivers to call off their strike in view of ongoing class-X board examination and problems faced by patients and public at large.
Notably, about 2 lakh drivers under the banner Drivers Ekata Mahasangha were on an indefinite strike from March 15 to press for their demands including pension, death benefits, life insurance, social security, parking and toilet facility.