All India Motor Transport Congress backs Raj Thackeray's anti-toll stir

Around 27 lakhs vehicles plying across Maharashtra will go off the road from midnight tonight to express solidarity with the "Rasta Roko" agitation called tomorrow by MNS chief Raj Thackeray against "illegal" toll collection.

"We will support any political party on this issue. We have been raising this issue with the government for the past five years but it has gone unheeded. So, in support of the issue, we have decided to keep all 27 lakh transportation vehicles off the road from this midnight," All India Motor Transport Congress president Bal Malkit Singh said here.

Even those vehicles which are used in transportation of consumer durables and essential items like food products, medicines will remain off the road during the period, he said.

The AIMTC claims representation of around 75 lakh truckers and some 40 lakh-odd private bus operators.

"People are being taken for a ride and have continued to pay higher cost for moving even within the country", Singh said.

He cited reports suggesting that road-users on national highways paid toll worth Rs. 9,283 crore in the last financial year. "However, the revenue collected is just a fraction of what is wasted i.e. Rs. 87,000 crore. It is the aam aadmi's money which is going down the drain", he added.