A REPORTER
SHILLONG: A delegation of the Meghalaya State Coordination Committee of Transport Operators, Owners and Drivers Associations and the Meghalaya Peoples' Labour Union (MPLU) along with the Tour Operators Association of Meghalaya (TOAM) and the Federation of Shillong Hotels (FOSH) met M. R. Synrem, Commissioner and Secretary Transport Department, Government of Meghalaya on the issue of the ongoing strike by the local taxis and some other commercial vehicles.
Synrem was requested to find solution of the ongoing strike by the Meghalaya Joint Action Committee of Commercial Vehicles (MJACCV).
The free playing of tourist taxi vehicles as well as the revival of the fragile tourism sector in the State are now on the cusp of severe depression. Hardship amongst every section of society and will now create an interstate problem where the Tourist Taxi Associations from Assam have also expressed concern about the disruption of business and are thinking of countering the strike since no intimation or consultation was properly made before the said strike. People still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic ramifications of the lockdown and a resultant sluggish economy. The Tourism Sector depends heavily on the Transport sector. The transport sector on the whole is an essential intrinsic service in the economic infrastructure and its revival in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic becomes imperative.
It was also agreed that tax relief will also be given for the period March 2020 upto 31st March 2021.