Byline: The Goan Network
PANAJI
As the stalemate between truck owners and Sesa Goa Iron Ore continues, Sesa Employees coordination committee met the chief minister, Laxmikant Parsekar, and urged him to resolve the truck owners’ agitation so that mining can re-start.
Sesa Goa has made it clear to the truck owners that it cannot pay more than Rs 8 per tonne per kilometre to transport the freshly mined iron ore under the prevailing circumstances of low price. Certain sections of truck owners are demanding a much higher rate than that and are agitating and suspected to be disrupting the movement of ore, which has brought mining to halt in the state. It was in this context that Sesa Goa’s committee, representing 5,000 employees, met the chief minister.
The committee told the CM that, “A section of the truck operators/political factions have been disrupting our work. The truck agitation has stopped us from working and with no transportation of ore taking place, there is no recourse left other than to stop work at the mines and plants.”
The committee even told the CM that agitating truck owners have threatened the employees and their family members of dire consequences when they try to work.
Sesa Goa’s employees have taken the initiative of speaking to individual truck owners and many of them have shown willingness to move the ore at Rs 8 per tonne per km. But, these truck owners want leaders of their associations to agree to the rate. The committee informed the CM that it is going to request the leaders of truck owners association to agree to the rate and if they don't agree then Sesa Goa’s employees will have no other choice but to sit in front of their house and do a mass appeal until they agree.
