ONGC’s outsourced vehicle owners and worker blockade national highway in Sabroom Kalacherra demanding early payment of dues

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, December 12, 2024

Despite being designated as a ‘Navratna’ public sector undertakings (PSU) even the ONGC has been defaulting on payment of dues to hired motor vehicle owners and by extension wages to their workers. As a mark of protest against inordinate delay in release of payment a crowd of more than three hundred motor vehicle owners and their drivers , assistants and workers this morning launched a road blockade programme on the national highway (No-08) at Kalacherra under Sabroom subdivision. Besides sitting on the highway the vehicle owners and workers including drivers and assistants started shouting slogans since 9-00 AM when the blockade had commenced .

As a result long queues of vehicles on both sides of the highway got stranded, creating great inconvenience for people on both sides as many passengers on private and public vehicles could not move ahead towards their destination. Shortly after receiving information of the blockade a large police contingent from Sabroom arrived on the spot and started speaking to the blockaders along with ONGC officials .They were soon joined by elected representatives of various local bodies including the MLA of Manu Bazar Mailafru Mog who spoke to the blockaders and convinced them that payment will be cleared soon and then the road blockade programme was withdrawn.