Gandaki govt urges striking transport operators to join talks again
The entrepreneurs have enforced a transport strike in protest of the government's move to legalize ride-sharing services.
KATHMANDU: Gandaki Province Government has once again called on agitating transport entrepreneurs to come to the negotiation table, urging dialogue to resolve the ongoing transport strike.
Speaking at a press conference today, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport Management stated that it is open to discussions regarding the demands raised by the transport entrepreneurs and seeks a constructive solution through talks.
The entrepreneurs have enforced a transport strike in protest of the government’s move to legalize ride-sharing services.
They had earlier been invited for talks on Wednesday but failed to attend.
An empowered five-member negotiation team, led by the Secretary of the Transport Ministry, has already been formed to hold discussions with the protesting stakeholders, according to the announcement made during the press briefing.
Engineer Kamal Kumar Adhikari, Province Secretary and Coordinator of the negotiation committee, emphasized that the provincial government is always ready to engage in open dialogue if any party is affected by newly introduced laws.
He stressed the need to resolve such issues through dialogue and urged the protesting organizations to call off the ongoing shutdown and join the talks.
Earlier, eight transport-related organizations—including the Federation of National Transport Entrepreneurs, Nepal Independent Transport Workers’ Union, Nepal Transport Workers’ Union, All Nepal Transport Workers’ Union, Central Federation of Public Transport, and General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions Gandaki—held a joint press conference and released a 17-point demand list.
Their key demands include scrapping the provision that allows private vehicles to carry passengers like public transport, removing the age limit on public vehicles, and rejecting the legalization of ride-sharing services.
The strike, which began on Jestha 16, has caused severe inconvenience to the general public across Gandaki Province.
