Hundreds of thousands of workers across India went on a nationwide strike in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to privatise state-run companies and other economic reforms, partially disrupting public services and manufacturing.
A coalition of 10 major trade unions that represent labourers and several other groups that speak for farmers and rural workers called for the one-day industrial action, dubbing it Bharat Bandh, “Shut Down India.”
The strikes pose fresh challenges for Modi’s efforts to attract foreign companies by easing labour laws to streamline business operations and boost productivity.
Unions that helped organise the strikes say that coal mining operations were halted in several states, while some trains came to a grinding halt as protestors blocked the network, and that banks, insurance companies, and supermarkets were disrupted.
The Associated Press reported that the eastern city of Kolkata saw protestors walking in a rally at a local railway station, some shouting slogans against the government and burning an effigy of Modi.
In the financial capital, Mumbai, bank employees shouted slogans against the privatisation of state-run banks.
The Press Trust of India reported that traffic in eastern India’s Odisha state was halted in some areas, while in the southern state of Kerala, shops, offices, and schools remained closed, with roads looking deserted.
The government hasn’t formally commented on the workers’ strike. It usually dismisses assertions made by these unions.
The workers' demands include higher wages, halting privatisation of state-run companies, withdrawal of new labour laws, and filling vacancies in the government sector.
The farmers' groups also want the government to increase the minimum purchase price for crops such as wheat and rice.
‘Modi reforms’
Modi's government has opened some sectors of the Indian economy to foreign direct investments and offered billions of dollars in financial incentives to attract local manufacturing.
It has also aimed to bridge the budget deficit with a drive to privatise ‘loss-making’ state-run companies and unveiled new labour laws that promise workers higher statutory minimum wages, social security, and healthcare.
However, the trade unions aren’t convinced and want the new laws to be scrapped.
“The government intends to suppress workers in the name of ease of doing business through labour reforms,” said Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, a prominent union taking part in the strike.
Coal mining operations in most states have come to a halt.
A. Soundararajan, a prominent trade union leader in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, said the police detained around 30,000 protesting workers on Wednesday.
Manufacturing activities at several companies have also been hit, he said.
