नवीनतम
Nationwide 'Bharat Bandh' tomorrow
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: In one of the largest coordinated labour actions in recent times, over 25 crore workers from across the country are expected to participate in a nationwide general strike on Wednesday. The strike, dubbed as 'Bharat Bandh', has been called by a joint platform of 10 central trade unions to protest what they term as the 'anti-worker, anti-farmer, and anti-national pro-corporate policies' of the central government.
Workers from key sectors including banking, insurance, postal services, coal mining, transport, and manufacturing are set to join the protest. “Months of preparations have gone into this. Formal and informal sector workers, as well as farmers and rural labourers, will be participating,” said Amarjeet Kaur of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).
Public services and industrial operations are likely to face severe disruption. “Banking, coal, postal, factories, and state transport will be hit hard,” noted Harbhajan Singh Sidhu from the Hind Mazdoor Sabha.
At the core of the agitation is a 17-point charter of demands submitted to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last year. The unions accuse the government of ignoring these demands and failing to convene the Indian Labour Conference for nearly a decade.
In a joint statement, the unions lashed out at the government's new labour codes, saying they are designed to weaken trade unions, dilute labour rights, increase working hours, and provide immunity to employers from legal accountability.
They also criticised the government's aggressive privatisation policies, saying they are systematically dismantling the public sector and pushing for contract-based and casual employment. “The welfare state has been abandoned. The government is clearly siding with Indian and foreign corporates,” the unions alleged.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha and allied rural workers’ organisations have pledged full support to the strike, with plans for large-scale mobilisations across rural India.
This is not the first such mass protest. Similar general strikes were observed earlier on November 26, 2020, March 28-29, 2022, and February 16, 2024.
