New Delhi: India will witness a sweeping all-India general strike from midnight tonight as trade unions launch a 24-hour protest against what they term the Centre’s anti-worker and anti-people policies, including the labour codes. Workers across sectors will be joined by farmers and agricultural labour organisations, while opposition parties, including the Left, and mass organisations have announced nationwide demonstrations in solidarity. Protests are planned at more than a thousand locations across the country, with foot marches, vehicle rallies and tractor processions expected at state, district and local levels.
The strike centres on demands such as the withdrawal of labour codes, restoration of the employment guarantee scheme, scrapping of amendments to electricity and seed laws, and opposition to 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the insurance sector and the privatisation of nuclear energy. Trade unions have also said the agitation will reflect public anger against the Union Budget and the proposed India–US trade agreement. Addressing a joint press conference, CITU vice-president Tapan Sen said the strike marks the beginning of a new phase of people’s struggles, while AITUC general secretary Amarjit Kaur alleged that the Modi government has eroded the very idea of a welfare state, adding that the shutdown will extend even to BJP-ruled states.
