EXCEPT INDIAN RAILWAYS, CSS, INDIAN CUSTOMS AND CENTRAL EXCISE AND UNION AFFILIATED TO RSS ALL HAVE JOINED IN STRIKE ON 02.09.16

EXCEPT INDIAN RAILWAYS, CSS, INDIAN CUSTOMS AND CENTRAL EXCISE AND UNION AFFILIATED TO RSS ALL HAVE JOINED IN STRIKE ON 02.09.16

Millions strike in India over reforms

• 1 hour ago
   
• From the sectionIndia

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionBanks, like this one in the city of Chennai, were shut during the strike

Tens of millions of workers in India are on a day-long strike demanding higher
 wages and to protest against the government's economic reforms.

Banks, government offices and factories are shut, while public transport is also
 disrupted in parts of the country.

The government says the reforms are needed to bolster the economy.

But trade unions say the government has not addressed the demands of the
 workers in banking, telecommunication and manufacturing industries.

They also oppose a government directive to state-run pension funds to put
more money into stock markets.

'VILE CONSPIRACY'

Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, told the
 BBC that more than 150 million workers in different industries were on strike.

But there has been no independent corroboration of the numbers given by
 the unions.

Mr Sen's union has accused the government of a "vile conspiracy... to privatise
 the public sector and invite foreign capital in some parts of industry".

Image copyrightAP

Image captionGovernment workers participated in a protest in Mumbai

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionA worker rests on a luggage cart in the southern city of Secunderabad

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionA deserted railway station in the north-eastern state of Tripura

Image copyrightMANOJ DHAKA

Image captionTransport workers in Haryana state are on strike

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionCommuters wait for public transport in Kolkata

Image copyrightEPA

Image caption...where the central bank office was shut

Banks, shops and schools shut down in parts of the country, including in the southern
Karnataka and Kerala states, where public transport was also disrupted, according to
 reports.

News channels showed flag-waving protesters squatting on railway tracks in the states
 of Orissa and West Bengal.

More than 20 protesters were arrested after they damaged two government buses in
West Bengal, senior police official Anuj Sharma told AFP.

Ten major unions called the strike after talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley broke
 down, with leaders rejecting his offer to raise the minimum wage for unskilled workers,
 reports said.

"This strike is against the central government, this strike is for the cause of the working
 people," Ramen Pandey of the Indian National Trade Union Congress told the AFP news
 agency.

"Our strike will be 100% successful... we will prove that this strike is the world's largest
 ever."

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionStranded passengers at a railway station in Bangalore

Since taking charge in May 2014, PM Narendra Modi's BJP government has initiated
 economic reforms and is trying to ease labour laws to attract foreign investment and
make it easier to do business in the country.

The government also plans to sell its stake in state-owned companies, which are
 incurring heavy loses.