January 10, 2025 09:31 am (IST)
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West Bengal hit by nationwide shutdown call by trade unions
Kolkata, Sept 2 (IBNS): A 24-hour general strike called by about ten trade unions is underway on Wednesday in India with the impact of the shutdown being felt since morning in the eastern state of West Bengal where the Left is the main opposition party.
Life in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, has been hit by the strike with roads witnessing fewer private transport since morning while people waited outside terminal railway stations like Howrah and Sealdah for long with no sign of any cab.
Baking sector is also likely to be hit in West Bengal greatly. Tripura, a Left ruled state in the Northeast, is also hit by the strike.
Left unions and cadres took out marches since morning in Bengal and there are reports of some clashes with the police too. The strike has bigger impact in the industrial areas of the state.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the trade union affiliated to India's largest communist party CPI-M, has been on the forefront of the strike while the Congress affiliated INTUC also joined the call.
Only BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and National Front of Trade Unions (NFITU) have decided to boycott the strike. Centre's Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, earlier said the impact of the strike will be minimal.
The Central and state governments have taken initiatives to foil the general strike on Wednesday.
The trade unions are protesting against several issues including the price rise of essential commodities and black marketing and agitating against several policies of BJP led central government and of TMC led West Bengal government.
Declaring a day's pay cut, central and state governments published two different notices for their employees.
West Bengal government has also allowed its staff to stay in government offices at night, before the bandh.
Opposing the pay-cut notices, West Bengal CPI-M's state secretary Suryakanta Mishra said, "It is illegal, unconstitutional and fails to stand judicial scrutiny. Struggle, unite and make the strike successful."
Assuring to provide security, the WB government has urged the people to join their works on the strike's day.
State's transport secretary Alapon Banerjee told IBNS, "Government undertaking buses will be run normally. We are requesting the private transporters to keep state's transportation normal. Government will ensure their security."
Meanwhile, the Bengal Taxi Association (BTA) has called a day-long taxi strike in Kolkata on Sep 2. The general secretary of BTA, Bimal Guha told IBNS: "We will not run our taxis on Sep 2."
However, private bus and minibus associations stated that they are ready to run their buses if they get the assurance of security from the government. Auto-rickshaw unions have also assured to keep their service normal.
General manager of luxury taxi service provider Uber-Kolkata, Ashwin Dias said through a press statement, "Uber is committed to ensuring people in Kolkata have a safe, reliable and affordable transportation option at the push of a button, even during this strike. Our teams and thousands of partner drivers are working tirelessly to ensure that Ubers are available and no one is stranded."
Kolkata police have deployed extra forces on the strike day.
Special Additional and Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Headquarters) Rajeeb Mishra told IBNS on Tuesday, "We will deploy as many as ten thousand extra policemen tomorrow to ensure city's security. We have arranged police picketing at several important points in Kolkata including bus and tram depots, rail and metro stations to avoid any untoward situation."
Few helpline numbers will be opened from 6 am on Wednesday to provide help to the commuters if they faces any trouble during travel. Few of those are-
CSTC (Local enquiry)- 033 2248 2401
CSTC (Long-distance enquiry)- 033 2248 1916
CTC- 033 2248 1731/1732
NBSTC- 033 2243 0736
SBSTC- 033 2248 6269
WBSTC- 033 2248 3037/2411 6388
Howrah railway station- 033 2660 2581/3542
Sealdah station- 033 2350 3535/3536/3537
Metro rail- 033 2226 4817
Police- 100
Ambulance service- 102
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