18 crore people to join Bharat band
A Bharat Band has been called out by ten trade unions, where Kerala and Karnataka have been shut down, but essential services like power, water supply is running in Delhi and Mumbai.
All public sectors banks will remain closed across the country during Bharat Band. Nurses and radiologists have announced indefinite strike for better salaries.
Trade union has claimed that 1.8 million workers are on strike to protest against new labour and investment policies.
In Karnataka, the Congress government is supporting the strike and schools and colleges are closed.
In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee has said her government will not allow offices or factories to close and that public transport will run as usual. Left parties have vowed to ensure that the strike is successful in the state
To persuade the unions, Finance minister Mr. Arun Jaitley said that the government will release the state employee bonus for last two years and increase wages for unskilled labour. They also appealed Union to call off the strike on Tuesday.
But trade union rejected the government’s appeal to call off the strike saying that the government has failed to address their demands. Apart from demanding higher minimum wages, the unions object to the government loosening the norms for foreign investment in areas like insurance and defense and are also opposed to a plan to close loss-making state-run firms.
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