Highway
Heroes
( Mahendra
Arya, President-AITWA)
A soldier
fighting on the borders of our country is our hero; because he has opted a life
which is full of risks, means being away from his family, practice hard
discipline with the possibility of losing his life. His incentive is a feeling
that he is protecting his country. His reward is that he gets handsome salary
and perks, good life during peace times, pension on retirement or death and
finally a recognition by his country when he becomes a martyr. Undoubtedly a
soldier is our hero; the Border Hero!
A farmer
burning out his body in scorching summer, chilling winter and a drowning deluge
of rains is also our hero; because he feeds the whole nation. Our 125 crore
population depends upon him for their daily food. Our former prime minister Lal
Bahadur Shastri recognized his contribution with the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai
Kisan’- thus equating him with a soldier. Though he still has lot of hardship;
however the scenario is being bettered by every Government. He is being
guaranteed of minimum purchase price, insurance benefits against crop failure,
easy loans and a waiver package as and when needed. Our incumbent Government
has promised lot many new schemes for the farmer. Truly a farmer is our
National Hero of Farms !
What about a
truck driver ? Is he not contributing to the nation in a big way? Will any
factory function in this country if their raw material in not brought inwards
and their finished products are not moved outwards to their point of further
consumption? Will the mining of minerals like iron ore, bauxite, and other ores will serve any purpose if not
moved to a plant of metal extraction out of those? Will a farmer’s produce be
of any use when that gets perished at the place of producing due to non-movement
by trucks? Will our defense be effective if all supplies in their logistics
network stop? How will any citizen of this country survive without getting
their daily supplies of grains, milk, food, newspapers, medicines and every
thig else which exists as material? In spite of such supreme importance, is a
truck driver treated as a National Hero?
Let us
discuss how is he treated in our country. Most of the truck drivers in our
country come from a poor background and without education. They become truck
driver because they find no other jobs. They start their life as a helper to an
established truck driver. His training on a truck is not formal; he learns
driving by doing all personal services to his boss. As more than 80% trucks in
India belong to small truck owners owning one to 5 vehicles, he has scope of
getting jobs with them much higher than getting job in large fleet owners. Most
of the transport companies don’t keep their own fleet as they can easily hire
the trucks from the market. Thus the truck drivers are deprived of regular
protection of employment like ESI, PF, Bonus, Leave and Gratuity.
Coming to
their work life; they are away from their family for long durations depending
upon the routes assigned and the delay in getting return loads. They are not
only the drivers of the truck; but also the custodians of the material loaded
on their trucks. This additional responsibility keeps them alert all the time.
They can not get a break for a proper sleep in between as there are no facilities
on highways. They sleep inside their trucks. They eat food in road side joints;
or else by cooking themselves using the stove and utensils they carry. They
don’t get facilities on lengthy highways to respond to call of nature. They
have to suppress the same which causes damage to their health. However while
talking about their hardships; experts of logistics highlight only their sex
life by calling them visitors of prostitutes. No proper sleep, rest, food,
toilet etc. make them sick. And all the time the risk of losing life in a
accident looms on their heads.
And what do
they get from the nation! The average payment to a driver employed by the best
fleet owners is about Rs. Twenty thousand which is about Rs. 667 for a day; the
day which engages them for 24 hours. Very few companies provide them with other
perks of a regular employment. And the 80% drivers working with small truck
operators get much less than that. Drivers are forced to make extra buck out of
diesel consumption. There is no facilities given by state or national
Government to a truck driver. No one thinks about their family which is left
behind in their villages. They get covered for accidental death in the third
party insurance policy for a small amount generally 2-3 lakhs and that is all
about their insurance.
Coming to
the treatment meted out to them! Their employers presume that he is going to
steal diesel so he treats him with contempt. When he is driving on a road or
highway, any policeman can stop him by waving his hand. In normal circumstances
he will collect some money from him for no violation, exercising his power over
the hapless truck driver. When the truck driver crosses a state border, there
is a regular practice of collecting a hefty amount properly termed as ENTRY
from him by the RTO or his goons. In case of non-payment he is slapped with various
charges which are never practiced in India. If he raises his voice to protest,
he is roughed up by the officers and their goons. There are large numbers of
videos available on internet of such atrocities.
Tax
Officers, financing companies and anyone with some power may stop the vehicles.
They don’t hesitate in manhandling a driver. They express their authority by
slapping a poor truck driver even though he has no role in tax of goods or loan
payment of his truck. He may get detained on highway for several days without
being provided any shelter or food.
There are
criminals who operate on highways. For them the easiest prey is a truck driver
as his is normally alone or at the most with his trainee counterpart. A truck
driver carries goods which could be worth several crores also. If he is
attacked by a jeep full of highway criminals, he has only two options- either
surrender to their demands or face death
as they come equipped with arms and ammunitions. There are thousand of records
available of such murders on highway.
In case of
an accident, which could be due to his negligence or by someone else driving on
highway; he may lose his life. In case he is live, then there are high chances
that he may bleed to death as people in our country do not want to get
involved. Even if he is carried to a hospital, the hospital does not start any
procedure on various grounds like police complaint etc . Though “ who will make
the payment” is generally the hidden reason behind all other reasons of such
hospitals.
If a driver
survives in an accident or an attempt of theft, he is expected to report to the
nearest police station. He gets an extremely unfriendly reception at all such
police stations. In case of thefts the jurisdiction is the easiest reason for
rejection of recording the FIR. Many a times, the driver is accused to be an
accomplish of criminals. He is made to run from pillar to post from one police
station to other until he is attended by his employer or the transport company.
We should
realise that a Truck driver is our Highway Hero just as a soldier is Border
Hero and a farmer is the Farm hero! If Jai Jawan Jai Kisan is true in
spirit then Jai Saarthi Jai Bharti should also be our slogan for an
economical growth of our country.
Even a
common citizen treats a truck driver with contempt. If not contempt, at least
with zero respect. Political leaders don’t find drivers an important category,
mainly because they are not their vote bank. A driver rarely gets to vote as he
is mobile. His life and his work does not allow him to plan his stay for voting
at his constituency. For this simple reason this One crore plus size community
is in no political party’s manifesto.
Should a
truck driver continue to live this kind of life? A life with no incentive, no
perks and no respect! Do we expect to get his next generation to drive a truck?
Driving cars in cities with employers like Ola, Uber, Meru etc. is paid
handsomely and with full package of perks and holidays. They travel in
airconditioned cars with respectable passengers. Why should anyone opt truck
driving as an option of job?
With this
article, the writer is raising three big questions-
1. Should nation ignore its theirs most
important national hero ?
2. Should a trade sleep over its ever
growing shortage of truck drivers in comparison to availability of trucks?
3. Should Government and its entire
machinery ignore the truck drivers’ existence?
All India
Transporters’ Welfare association ( AITWA) has taken this challenge to bring
about a major shift in the life of a truck driver. AITWA wants to bring about a
campaign in the country for masses awareness. We will represent to Government
with a package of demands for the welfare of truck drivers. AITWA will invite
all companies which are associated with production of trucks and its
accessories to participate in this movement. All associations are welcome to
join the project. A detailed step to step activity report is under preparation.
The project HIGHWAY HEROES will be launched in a formal function by AITWA.
Jai Jawan
Jai Kisan ! Jai Saarthi Jai Bharti !!!
