Raman Mandi truckers refuse to lift wheat

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 17 

Members of the Raman Mandi truck union have refused to lift the wheat grains till their pending payments are cleared. 

Union members submitted a copy of their demands to Deputy Commissioner Diprava Lakra at the District Administrative Complex here on Tuesday. 

Though the DC urged them to begin lifting grains from the grain market and assured them the payments would be cleared soon, the operators remained adamant on their decision. 

Elaborating on the issues, Sumeet Baghla, a truck operator, said, “Payment worth Rs 13 lakh have been withheld which were due to be paid to the operators. The former president of the union, Ramesh Kumar, has kept the payment with himself even though it was released by the government. We approached the police as well as the district administration, but in vain.”

Defending himself, Ramesh Kumar said, “I was unanimously elected as the president of the union in March 2017. Only the lifting of wheat in 2017 was done under my presidentship. I had cleared bills amounting to Rs 1.95 crore for lifting of which Rs 1.90 crore were released by the government. I distributed cheques amounting to Rs 1.77 crore among the operators. The record of cheques is with the bank concerned.”

“Politically motivated, the operators are creating a ruckus over Rs 13 lakh which were spent on overhead expenses. They accuse me of pocketing the amount. They elected new presidents in October 2017 and I handed over the accounts to new presidents Bharpoor Singh and Jagdev Singh. Still, the operators are accusing me of embezzlement of funds which is not the case,” he added.