Price hike, food shortage looming
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 20
The threat of shortage of essential items and consequently price hike in Nagaland, is looming with transporters in Assam finally calling for an indefinite ‘Chakka Jam’ from 5 AM this morning. The consequences of rampant extortion are finally taking effect with the truckers and transporters refusing to enter the state. The strike is in protest against the rampant extortion and collection of “unauthorized tax” by various Naga and non-Naga underground organizations in Nagaland and also assault on drivers.
The truckers under the aegis of the All Assam Truck Owners, Driver, Handymen Association have decided not to cross “all Nagaland entry points” like Bokajan, Mariani and Amguri. This means all the districts in the state will now face shortage of essential commodities, if the state government does not intervene with strong political will.
More than twenty heavily-laden trucks with essential and perishable commodities are halted at Bokajan in view of the ‘Chakka Jam’; more vehicles are expected to be ‘stranded’ this evening, when other trucks from Guwahati and other Assam towns reach Bokajan. The truckers have affirmed that they would not enter Nagaland until and unless the matter of extortion is resolved.
They are waiting for a response from the state government of Nagaland and the district administration of Dimapur. However, there has been no strong intervention from Nagaland’s side, the truckers said. Their demand is simply to check the illegal collections of money and extortion in Nagaland. However, trucks traveling to Manipur have not been put under the scope of the ‘Chakka Jam’ and Manipur-bound trucks plied undisturbed.
The decision to call the ‘Chakka Jam’ was reportedly taken after the Guwahati Goods Transport Association convened a meeting of the All Assam Transporters’ Association, Truck Drivers and Handymen Association, Guwahati Transporters Labour Union, Golaghat Truck Owners Association on April 17 in Guwahati. It is reported that traveling the Nagaland route has become dangerous for the truck drivers and handymen due to rampant extortion by illegal organisations.
Drivers and handymen are also reported to be constantly assaulted. Though collection of money by petty organizations and even personnel of state agencies is not a new thing in Nagaland – with such reports being carried in the media from time to time – the truckers this time have asserted that the limits have been crossed.
Truck owners and drivers said that various organizations collect a fixed amount from all trucks entering Nagaland. According to them, a truck loaded with iron rods have to pay Rs 8000, grocery items Rs 6000, onions Rs 4000, potatoes Rs 5000, fish Rs 10000, eggs Rs 5000 and so on to the underground outfits. Besides, armed groups like the NSCN factions, the Kuki National Front, UPDS demand huge sums of money, they lamented.
Interestingly a truck owner in Bokajan and a truck driver alleged even the police, the MVI, Excise, Narcotics and Dimapur Municipal Council exact much beyond the stipulated norms. “Let them (personnel at check gates) ask for twenty-thirty rupees for ‘having tea’, then it is okay, but collecting Rs 200-Rs 300 daily is too much for us to bear,” the truck owner lamented. “From Guwahati to Bokajan we spent Rs 1000, however from here (Bokajan) to Dimapur we spent Rs 5000,” the truck owner said, while disclosing that they have to pay money to the personnel of state agencies and the DMC manning the check gates.
The truck owner also ridiculed that while groups like the NSCN outfits demand Rs 5000 per trucks, other outfits like the UPDS and KRA are demanding Rs 10,000 more than the NSCN factions. Outfits like the UPDS, KRA, PLA and others entrust local boys to collect the extortion money on their behalf, the truckers disclosed. The drivers said even after payment of money to the underground organizations, the truckers are demanded to pay more by the cadres saying that the ‘coupon’ of payment was from a “duplicate” group, and they hand out another so-called “original” slip.
The drivers also disclosed that last month one truck driver was abducted by some criminals in Dimapur; a ransom of Rs 50,000 was demanded from the truck owner which was duly paid and the driver was released. However, the driver was badly assaulted sustaining serious injuries and had to be hospitalized. Petty, unknown and illegal and unrecognized organizations, the trucker owners said, also join in the extortion. One such organization is one so-called “Empty Bottles Association” handing out coupons to the truck drivers, they said.
With the bulk of the state’s essential commodities like rice, oils, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and fish come into the state through Assam, the districts in Nagaland is sure to face an acute shortage of essential commodities within the next few days if the Chakka Jam continues. Many concerned citizens in Dimapur know that a shortage in the essential commodities would lead to hoarding of goods and sky rocketing of prices in the towns by unscrupulous businessmen. A truck driver in Bokajan also said that the perishable goods in the trucks would get spoilt if kept for a long time. However, a truck owner said that they would have no problem as the goods can always be unloaded in Bokajan or some other towns in Assam. ‘The ultimate sufferer would be the people of Nagaland’, a truck owner regretted.
