Members of the Telangana State Sand Lorry Owners Association protest in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: The Telangana State Sand Lorry Owners Association on Monday, August 10, began a jail bharo movement over the Centre’s labour codes.
Protesting at Autonagar in Hyderabad, the body demanded that the government repeal laws that damage the transport sector. Their other demands are regulation of diesel and petrol prices and elimination of illegal cash collections at sand reaches in the state.
Members of the association also burnt an effigy.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Telangana Lorry Owners Association, President Manchireddy Rajender Reddy said, “We have clear demands for driving schools, driver association welfare boards, and security for families of the lorry drivers and fixed charges for freight forwarding.”
The protest in Hyderabad is part of a nationwide protest against the Centre’s labour codes. Farmers and workers across India participated in a nationwide ‘Jail bharo Andolan’ called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Central Trade Unions (CTU) against what they described as anti-worker and anti-farmer policies of the Union Government.
The protesters demanded the repeal of the four labour codes, a legal guarantee for minimum support prices (MSP) for agricultural produce based on the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, and the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill.
All India Kisan Sabha President Ashok Dhawale participated in the protest in Maharashtra, while its Finance Secretary, P. Krishnaprasad, joined the agitation in Haryana. CITU All India President Sudeep Dutta also participated in the Haryana protest.
The organisations said the nationwide mobilisation was aimed at building sustained pressure on the Centre to withdraw policies they consider detrimental to the interests of farmers and workers. They said the campaign would be expanded in the coming months as part of the broader joint struggle.
The four labour codes are: the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, which are effective Friday, replacing 29 fragmented laws with a unified, modern framework.
In November 2025, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at a press conference in New Delhi, “The Codes will formalise employment, strengthen worker protections, and make the labour ecosystem simpler, safer and globally aligned.”
The government will now initiate consultations to frame detailed rules and schemes. During the transition, provisions of existing labour laws will remain applicable wherever required.
This post was last modified on August 10, 2026 4:21 pm