Shillong, Sept 01: The Joint Action Committee of Truckers, Suppliers, Exporters, Traders and Transporters Association (JACTSETTA) today sent the representation to the Chief Minister Mr. Conrad K Sangma government of Meghalaya inform that trade involves transportation of goods and minerals from various parts of the country into the state of Meghalaya and vice versa.
The JAC are responsible for transporting food grains, and all the essential commodities from garments to medicines to building materials even to the remotest place in the country. Their jobs is the most difficult and important one for supporting Indian and State economy.
In order to ensure that the food grains reaches to each and every kitchen in the state and starvation is prevented, they have to work continuously for months together and stay far away from our family and children.
When the whole world was asked to stay at home to be healthy and safe from Corona Virus, that was the most difficult time for truckers, they cannot stay home and be safe with their families and near and dear ones. There was the only profession that cannot sleep. It won’t be wrong to say that the day wheels of our trucks stop, the whole nation will come to a halt.
The JAC inform the Chierf Minister that in spite of their valuable service given to the people of the state, they are forced to go through various difficulties in the state of Meghalaya. The weighbridges which are set up at several locations in NH 6 and NH 40E are a real pain in our journey.
Every time we had to pass through these weighbridges they were forced to shed a huge sum of money which is otherwise meant for our survival during the course of our work. At times they had to stay hungry for few days as we used to run out of money because of these weighbridges.
To add salt to the wound, all these weighbridges are declared illegal by the Government of India and the Central Government is totally against the existence of such illegal weighbridges in the NH 6 and NH 40E.
It is universally known that the National Highways are properties of the Central Government and it is governed by a separate act known as National Highways Act which is totally under the Central Government. The provisions of overloading and its prevention including penalties etc are clearly spelled out in the act especially in the Toll Highway.
There is nowhere in the act that empower the Officers of the Transport Department in State to meddle with the business of National Highway. Hence any structure built along the Highway without the approval of the competent authority which is the Ministry of Surface Road Transport and Highways in the Government of India will deemed to be illegal and not permissible in law.
The act which the state made under the MV Act to cover up these illegal weighbridges is not valid at all as the Highways are covered by the National Highway Act and the power to enforce the act is with the Central Government and not with the State of Meghalaya.
The JAC therefore request the Chief Minister not to force them to be part of these illegality by asking them to pay to these illegal weighbridges as this totally goes against the law and the spirit of the Indian Constitution.
The representation was sign by four organsation, President Meghalaya Truckers Union,. Secretary of the The Association of Meghalaya Traders and Transporters Association, Secretary, East Jaintia Coal Suppliers Association, President, Foreign Trade Chamber of Commerce Meghalaya.
