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New Delhi/Mumbai: India's financial sector was crippled and transport hit as large
parts of the country ground to a halt Wednesday in response to
trade unions calling for a two-day strike to demand concrete
measures to check inflation, ensure jobs and enforce labour laws.
Day one of the nationwide protest saw trains stopped in some
places like Bihar and roads blocked elsewhere but it was all
mostly peaceful, with the exception of violence in Uttar Pradesh's
Noida and Greater Noida areas, close to the national capital,
where mobs attacked factories and set fire to vehicles.
In Ambala, a Haryana Roadways employee was killed accidentally
Wednesday when he came under the wheels of a bus as authorities
tried to forcibly ply services.
The banking sector was the worst hit in the strike called by 11
major trade unions including the ruling Congress' Indian Trade
Union Congress (INTUC). The strike impacted normal life across
wide swathes of India.
The charter of demands include concrete measures for containing
inflation, steps for employment generation, universal social
security and making the minimum wage Rs.10,000 per month along
with daily allowance.
The protest, ahead of the budget session of parliament that is
likely to see Manmohan Singh government cornered by the opposition
on a range of issues, found wide resonance.
Around one million bankers struck work, affecting the clearance of
around four million cheques valued around Rs.250 billion
(Rs.25,000 crore), estimated C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary
of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA).
In India's financial capital Mumbai, all banks, insurance
companies and commercial institutions remained shut, organisers
said.
"The banking and financial sector is 100 percent closed not only
in Mumbai and Maharashtra but all over the country," AIBEA vice
president Vishwas Utagi told IANS.
Attempts were made to halt buses in Mumbai and trains in the
western suburbs but police foiled most of these efforts.
Commuters had a tough time in the national capital with cabs and
autos off the roads, leaving them with no option but to either
miss work or pack into metro trains and buses. And that was how it
was in many parts of the country.
The shutdown was pretty much total in Kerala, where the Left is
not in power but has significant influence, and in Left ruled
Tripura.
Most markets, shops and business establishments, government
offices, educational institutions, banks and financial
institutions were shut. Barring private vehicles, public transport
remained off roads.
"The price rise is unbearable. There has to be a way out," said
Kerala's Agricultural Minister K.P. Mohanan, who belongs to the
ruling Congress party.
Life was disrupted elsewhere too. In India's most populated state
Uttar Pradesh, 10,000-odd government-run buses stayed off the
roads leaving commuters stranded
And in West Bengal, where flight services were normal and trains
plied despite minor disruptions, buses, taxis and auto rickshaws
largely kept off the roads.
Coal production and transportation were impacted in Jharkhand,
Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The strike also hit the Vishakapatnam Steel Plant in Andhra
Pradesh.
In India's tech hub and Karnataka capital Bangalore, software
majors like Infosys and Wipro worked normally but state-run
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL),
Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Indian Telephones Industries (ITI)
and Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd (HMT) shut down.
Normal life remained unaffected in most Karnataka towns.
Amongst the most affected were students. In Bihar, the government
has postponed the Class 12 examination scheduled for Feb 20 and 21
in view of the strike. Officials said the exams will now be
conducted in the first week of March. The change in schedule will
affect 800,000 students.
And while the strike organisers looked ahead at day two, analysts
totted up the losses.
According to industry body Assocham, which had Tuesday urged
central trade unions to withdraw the trike, the economy would lose
Rs.15,000-20,000 crore due to the disruption.
"The national economy, battling a slowdown, can ill-afford this
situation" Assocham president Rajkumar Dhoot said.
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