More than 18 crore workers from at least 10 central Left-affiliated trade unions (CTUs) (except BJP-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh) participated in the ‘Bharat bandh’ on Friday. The trade unions are joined by five bank unions who are protesting against government’s new labour and investment policies.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had on Tuesday announced that the government will release state employees’ bonuses for the last two years, and increase minimum wages for unskilled labourers, reports NDTV.
According to a report by Indian Express, essential services such as banking, public transport and telecom have been hit.
However, in Mumbai, it was business as usual for public transport as the suburban trains, autorickshaws, taxis and city buses continued to operate normally, without affecting the daily schedule of lakhs of commuters of the city and its suburbs.
In Kerala, shops and establishments were shut and public transport vehicles stayed off roads.
There were some angry reactions in the public:
However, some seemed rather happy about the mega strike:
Here are some happy reactions:
And then some funny reactions:
(Feature image source: Twitter| Indiacom)
(With inputs from PTI)