New Delhi: The services of lakhs of truck drivers, who are stranded at transport company offices, warehouses and even at roadside eateries across the country, could be used effectively to restore the commercial road transport sector as and when the government moves to ease the restrictions imposed under the national lockdown.
The All India Motor Transport Congress, which represents nearly 90 lakh truck owners, has written to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to say that essential services should also be provided to these truckers – who could neither reach their place of residence or native place due to the lockdown that was imposed on March 24 – and to ensure that they do not leave for their villages and towns whenever restrictions are eased.
‘Encourage drivers not to return to their villages’
Talking to The Wire, Bal Malkit Singh, the chairman of AIMTC’s core committee, said that due to the lockdown, most of the drivers and cleaners had deserted the vehicles along the highways and taken shelter in offices, warehouses and eateries. “Only about 5% of the trucks are operating right now. Our concern is that once the lockdown is lifted, these drivers would try to make their way home and that that would make resumption of normal service even more difficulty.”
To that end, he said, “We have written to MoRTH and marked a copy to the Ministry of Home Affairs, urging them to provide food and shelter to these drivers, who are in touch with the truck owners, at appropriate places and to arrange for their medical screening. The revenue departments of respective states know where they are and so arranging these facilities should not be difficult.”
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‘Screen drivers for health issues, sanitise vehicles’
Singh said the Association had also written earlier to the ministries to provide an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh to the drivers. “We had also demanded that since the drivers are fearful of coronavirus, facilities for sanitising the vehicles and thermal imaging of the drivers be provided every 200 kilometres on the highways.”
On the issue of necessary facilities like repair shops, tyre shops and eateries closing down along the highways, making it difficult for the drivers and cleaners to operate over long distances, Singh said some headway has been made and MHA has announced details of filling stations along the highways on which some of these facilities would be available.
‘No problem in cross borders, but labour shortage having crippling effect’
He said the situation has also eased somewhat at borders as municipal bodies and toll agencies have not been not charging any fees from commercial vehicles taking essential goods. “We are now being issued passes, which the drivers stick on the windscreen, and it allows a smooth passage across the border. With most private and commercial vehicles off the roads, the travel time has also improved.”
He said now the sticking point for the transporters is availability of labour. “It is harvest time. But much of the labour in the farms is gone and so loading is becoming a problem. Also, we do not have much labour at the offloading points. This is one area of concern, especially since a balance has to be struck between controlling the COVID-19 spread and ensuring essential transport service.”
‘Raw material supply for pharmaceutical industry, PPE manufacturers is crucial’
Singh said while LPG and petroleum products are being taken long distances, milk and general grocery items are mostly being taken over short distances. “However, much of the produce being supplied is what is in the pipeline. Some essential sectors like pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment manufacturers are also functioning. But right now goods are mostly moving out of their premises. They will soon also need raw material supplies for their operations and so the scope of transport will have to be expanded.”
He said transport also requires issue of documents for both loading and unloading and most of the owners are not able to provide these while working from home. “We would need some relaxation in our operations to facilitate this work.”
Trucks at the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border on March 25. Photo: PTI
Niti Aayog drawing plan for phased exit from lockdown
Meanwhile, the Central government is learnt to be working on plans to have a phased exit from the lockdown. Niti Aayog member Vinod Paul was quoted by an economics daily as saying that the plan envisages lifting restrictions from low-risk states and districts in a phase-wise manner.
A draft plan has been submitted to the Centre in this regard by the Medical Emergency Management Plan group of Niti Aayog, that was constituted by MHA.
It has proposed dividing all the states into four categories. Those that have reported less than five active cases with no new case in last seven days will be placed in stage 1; those with between 5 and 19 cases with no new case in past seven days in stage 2; those with 20 to 49 cases in stage 3; and those with 50 or more cases in stage 4.
The restrictions for each of these is proposed to be lifted one week after the other – with those states witnessing the relaxation first that report the least cases.
Also read: Supply Chain Woes: COVID-19 Lockdown Leaves Truckers Stranded Across India
Best, worst case scenarios being factored in
It has also been stated that a meeting chaired by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Monday with officials of the cabinet secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office and other departments discussed the containment plans and the impact various decision around lifting of the lockdown could have on the economy and health aspects.
Projections around the best-case, medium-term and worst-case scenario around the virus spread have also been discussed. The mathematical modelling around these case studies would form the basis for a final decision on when and how the restrictions would be lifted.
Restrictions on movement of elderly, inter-state travel by labour may stay
To begin with, while states with low incidence would be allowed freedom of movement, it would be suggested that the elderly stay at home and inter-state travel be kept to the minimum. Also, while factories would open in unaffected areas, inter-state movement of labour would be discouraged.