Bharat bandh: Essential services, transport affected; schools shut

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi-Ten central trade unions (CTUs) have gone on a one-day nationwide strike against the government’s “indifference” towards their demands and effecting “anti-worker” changes in labour laws.

Many people are facing the consequences of the strike, protesters vandalised a NBSTC bus in Cooch Behar district, West Bengal and the Siliguri Municipal corporation Mayor Ashok Bhattacharya has been arrested along with 15 other protesters.

The unions have claimed that this year’s strike will be bigger as the number of striking workers is expected to swell as much as 18 crore, larger than last year when around 14 crore workers participated.

Gurudas Das Gupta General Secreatary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said, “Most important is control of inflation, particularly the food inflation, social security for the unorganised labour, minimum wage for all unorganised should be Rs. 18,000, road is an investment for profit making public sector, low margin of banks etc are the main demand on which we are going on strike.”