Changing their protest venue, members of Meghalaya Joint Action Committee of Commercial Vehicles (MJACCV) have decided to stage a sit-in protest tomorrow at Malki Ground here.
It may be noted that earlier MJACCV had said that it would stage the protest in front of the State secretariat.
Similarly, drivers and owners of commercial vehicles from all districts of Khasi and Jaintia Hills region will on the same day hold similar sit-in protests in front of the office of respective deputy commissioners.
MJACCV is demanding a considerable reduction in tax rates for petrol and diesel and 50 per cent exemption of all taxes for commercial vehicles since commercial vehicle owners were affected by the Covid-19 induced lockdown in 2020.
Today, shopkeepers of Iewduh along with commercial transport operators held a public meeting at Jaiaw taxi stand near Motphran to demand a considerable reduction of State tax on petrol and diesel.
Speakers at the meeting said that business has gone down considerably after the indefinite strike by passenger vehicles like taxis, maxis and buses across Khasi and Jaintia Hills in protest against the rise in petrol and diesel prices.
Shopkeepers along with taxi and bus drivers from the city and adjoining areas attended the meeting.
“Ministers should listen to the voice of the people. It is the people who elected you and made you ministers,” Victoria Marwein, a shopkeeper from Iewduh, said at the gathering.
Marwein also said that the rise in auto fuel prices has affected the common man and made life difficult for commuters across the State.
Iewduh which is the biggest commercial centre of the State has been hit hard since February 3 as farmers, traders and buyers from outside the city were unable to come to the market due to the indefinite strike by commercial vehicles.
