Bharat Bandh : Workers strike across India for labour rights, better pay

[MenInG]

Millions of workers began a nationwide two-day strike across India on Monday to express their anger at the government’s economic policies and to back demands for improved rights for industrial workers, employees and farmers.

About a dozen of the country’s labour unions that have organised the strike want the government to provide universal social security cover for workers in the vast unorganised sector, hike the minimum wage under its flagship employment guarantee programme and stop the privatisation of public sector banks.

The strikers are also demanding the government halt its plans to monetise state assets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government says privatising some state-owned banks would overhaul the banking industry and that the asset monetisation model will help raise money to spur economic growth.

All Indian Trade Union Congress, one of the largest trade unions in the country, said it was expecting more than 200 million formal and informal workers to join the strike. Demonstrations were planned in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other major cities.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, an important trade union affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said it won’t be participating in the strike, calling it “politically motivated”.

Essential services related to banking, transportation, railways and electricity are likely to be impacted in several states due to the strike. A number of public sector banks, including India’s largest lender, the state-run State Bank of India, have said that banking services may be affected because many employees are expected to participate in the strike.

India’s economy has bounced back after experiencing a major blow during the first two years of the pandemic. But many jobs have disappeared, with the unemployment rate rising to eight per cent in December.

Modi’s government last year grappled with huge farmer protests that demanded a complete repeal of the controversial agriculture laws it had billed as necessary reforms.

The year-long protests by farmers, who feared the laws would dramatically reduce their incomes, forced Modi to make a rare retreat just ahead of the crucial state elections that his party eventually won.

DAWN

 

[JaDed]

So scared are the employees of privatization, only reason I have always supported BJP , capitalism.

Time to privatize non performing public sector banks.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Millions of workers began a nationwide two-day strike across India on Monday to express their anger at the government’s economic policies and to back demands for improved rights for industrial workers, employees and farmers.

About a dozen of the country’s labour unions that have organised the strike want the government to provide universal social security cover for workers in the vast unorganised sector, hike the minimum wage under its flagship employment guarantee programme and stop the privatisation of public sector banks.

The strikers are also demanding the government halt its plans to monetise state assets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government says privatising some state-owned banks would overhaul the banking industry and that the asset monetisation model will help raise money to spur economic growth.

All Indian Trade Union Congress, one of the largest trade unions in the country, said it was expecting more than 200 million formal and informal workers to join the strike. Demonstrations were planned in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other major cities.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, an important trade union affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said it won’t be participating in the strike, calling it “politically motivated”.

Essential services related to banking, transportation, railways and electricity are likely to be impacted in several states due to the strike. A number of public sector banks, including India’s largest lender, the state-run State Bank of India, have said that banking services may be affected because many employees are expected to participate in the strike.

India’s economy has bounced back after experiencing a major blow during the first two years of the pandemic. But many jobs have disappeared, with the unemployment rate rising to eight per cent in December.

Modi’s government last year grappled with huge farmer protests that demanded a complete repeal of the controversial agriculture laws it had billed as necessary reforms.

The year-long protests by farmers, who feared the laws would dramatically reduce their incomes, forced Modi to make a rare retreat just ahead of the crucial state elections that his party eventually won.

DAWN

Really people don't know anything about India, 200 million lol
People don't even understand 200 million number, whole population of Pakistan on strike
My wife is banker and she was not in strike.
Mospi to every big ministry was not in strike.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

So scared are the employees of privatization, only reason I have always supported BJP , capitalism.

Time to privatize non performing public sector banks.

To be fair they have made our ( government employees) life hell.
One of the main reason most government employees voted for SP in up.
It is poor who have voted BJP for Soacilist scheme.
My senior tell me that before 2014 my job was easy, no pressure from UPA gov.
While BJP has really made tough rule, deadlines and if somehow we miss deadline then there is huge scolding and tension
They need to increase pay if they are overloading us with work.
Nobody join Government job to work like donkey on low pay.
After five years of job I am still getting 57000 .
If you are increasing the work then increase salary also.
Today itself in this hot and humid conditions I was on field collection data for India

 

[Syed1]

So scared are the employees of privatization, only reason I have always supported BJP , capitalism.

Time to privatize non performing public sector banks.

Wow things are so similar in Pakistan and India...


Its almost as if they were one country



However, age of big behemoth SoEs is long gone. The government has no business being in business. In Pakistan these SoEs are seen as employment agencies for the political loyalists specially by traditional corrupt parties PPP and PML-N. Musharraf left profitable Steel Mills, PIA, PR, Pakistan Post etc etc and then 10 years of "democracy" has seen all these SoEs go deep in red. PTI managed to turn around Pakistan Post. PIA and PR were on the path to recovery before the pandemic badly damaged them. Steel Mills is being privatized. Hope they get to do it before there is a change in government.


However, China has bucked this trend. Some of the largest most profitable organizations in China are state owned. Yeh cheeni alag hi quam hain

 

[JaDed]

To be fair they have made our ( government employees) life hell.
One of the main reason most government employees voted for SP in up.
It is poor who have voted BJP for Soacilist scheme.
My senior tell me that before 2014 my job was easy, no pressure from UPA gov.
While BJP has really made tough rule, deadlines and if somehow we miss deadline then there is huge scolding and tension
They need to increase pay if they are overloading us with work.
Nobody join Government job to work like donkey on low pay.
After five years of job I am still getting 57000 .
If you are increasing the work then increase salary also.
Today itself in this hot and humid conditions I was on field collection data for India

I don’t want to be rude to a government employee but this only proves BJP is making government employees work.

Privatization should help then, you would get the pay and the work, I don’t want to talk ill about UP government employees but i can write and cite pages on inefficiency of government offices and saying no pressure under UPA means a very low bar to fill.

And i know what you mean I remember people in railway offices who never went to work on time at 9am until BJP took office in 2014, they were not even doing bare minimal.