Indian workers go on a daylong nationwide strike against Modi’s economic reforms

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Indian workers go on a daylong nationwide strike against Modi’s economic reforms



NEW DELHI: Hundreds of thousands of workers across India went on a nationwide strike on Wednesday in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to privatize state-run companies and other economic reforms, partially disrupting public services and manufacturing.A coalition of 10 major trade unions that represent laborers and several other groups that speak for farmers and rural workers called for the one-day industrial action, dubbing it Bharat Bandh,” Hindi for “Shut Down India.”The strikes pose fresh challenges for Modi’s efforts to attract foreign companies by easing labor laws to streamline business operations and boost productivity.Unions that helped organize 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.An Associated Press photographer in Kolkata saw protestors walking in a rally at a local railway station, some shouting slogans against the government and burning an effigy of Modi. Another, in the financial capital Mumbai, witnessed bank employees shouting slogans against the privatization of state-run banks.News agencies reported traffic in Odisha was halted in some areas, while in 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 privatization of state-run companies, withdrawal of new labor 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.



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