New Delhi sources have stated that the transport ministry has diluted its earlier stand for mandatory air-conditioned cabin in trucks for drivers after receiving objections from automobile manufacturers. Currently the manufacturers will have option of either fitting an air-conditioning system for the cabin or with the truck cabin ventilation system in all new trucks to be manufactured from next January.
Meanwhile the Union transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had mooted the idea of air-conditioned cabins to provide good driving condition for truck drivers and even the ministry has vehemently argued for this during a parliamentary select committee meeting saying drivers should have this right.
But the automobile industry had objected to this. To find a middle path,
the ministry has put both the options in a recent notification and the ministry
has been silent on mandatory minimum wages to be paid to drivers, working hours
and rest for drivers. Until these issues are addressed, any number of cosmetic
changes won’t help the drivers.
