Bharat Bandh disrupts daily life in Odisha; bus services hit, protestors block roads; demands raised against labour laws
Bharat Bandh
call given by trade unions and farmers' outfits. They were protesting the implementation of four labour codes, the increase in working hours, and the decriminalisation of violations of labour laws by employers.
Common people faced difficulties as buses were not plying on most of the routes in the state. Though trains were running as usual, people were anxious about whether protestors might picket at stations by stopping the trains.
'I have urgent work in Phulbani, but I am not getting a bus now. There is no train connectivity to Phulbani, so I do not have any other way to reach my destination. Some buses are assuring me that they may ply during the evening, but the marriage ceremony will be over by the time I reach there,' said Manohar Digal while waiting for a bus at Baramunda bus terminal.
A similar situation was witnessed at Cuttack's Netaji bus terminal and other bus stands in the state. As most areas in the state are not connected with railway networks, people still depend on bus services. Fearing any face-off with protestors, many bus owners have stopped running buses on different routes connecting Bhubaneswar.
Around 10 trade unions, farmers' outfits led by Samyukt Kisan Morcha, and agricultural workers' unions supported the all-India strike.
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They staged demonstrations in front of railway stations, bus stands/terminals, govt offices, highways, and busy squares as a mark of protest in different district and block headquarters in the state.
They also conducted picketing at busy squares of cities, in front of different central govt offices, and major institutions, demanding the fulfilment of their 17-point charter of demands. In the capital city, protestors staged a demonstration at Master Canteen, in front of the Bhubaneswar railway station, blocking vehicular traffic for an hour in the morning as a mark of protest.
A workers' union conducted picketing in front of Utkal University's main gate.
Tuesday's drivers' strike, which blocked the plying of private buses and public transport vehicles, leaving passengers in the lurch, added salt to the wound of the bus services on Wednesday. 'As many protestors from the drivers' association were stopping the buses and asking the drivers not to drive the vehicles, the fear is still there in the minds of bus drivers.
Though a few buses are running, I hope the whole bus service will resume by Wednesday evening.
We are monitoring the situation,' said Debendra Sahu, General Secretary of the All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association.
Mahendra Parida, a trade union leader, said the govt has literally given a green signal to employers to exploit labourers and employees by increasing working hours and not increasing the minimum wage of labourers. 'The four labour codes are anti-labour and anti-people reforms. We are protesting this,' he added.
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