Strike brings normal life to halt in Kerala

The nationwide strike called by trade unions against the Centre's Labour Codes brought normal life to a standstill in Kerala, with isolated incidents of violence in a few parts of the state on Thursday. Though the state government declared a dies non for government employees, attendance at offices, including at the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, remained low as transport vehicles kept off the roads. The General Administration Department of the state government issued an order stating that unauthorised absence of an official on account of the strike shall be treated as ''dies-non''. The pay for the day on which the strike is taking place will be withheld from the salary if officials do not report for duty, the order said. No leave would be granted to teachers and government employees except in cases of personal illness or illness of close relatives, examinations, maternity leave or other unavoidable reasons, the order added. Apart from government offices, most shops and businesses also remained closed due to the nationwide 24-hour strike. Travellers were among the worst affected, with KSRTC and private buses remaining off the roads. Auto-rickshaw unions also announced that they would not operate during the strike. ''I have been waiting for a KSRTC bus since 6 am to return home to Kanjiramattom after my night duty. But no buses are operational. I will wait for a few more hours before going to the railway station to catch a local train to reach my destination,'' a passenger told reporters in Kochi. Passengers arriving by train from other states at various railway stations were also affected, and police operated buses at some stations to assist stranded travellers. With the Sabarimala temple set to open for the Kumbham month pooja on Thursday evening, KSRTC officials said a few Pampa services operated from Thiruvananthapuram, Chengannur, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvalla to facilitate pilgrims. Meanwhile, Kochi Metro Rail and online taxi services remained operational, offering limited relief to city commuters. Even though police personnel were deployed across the state to intervene in case of any untoward incidents, trucks, buses and private vehicles were stopped at several places in Wayanad, Ernakulam and Palakkad. All the schools and educational institutions remained closed. A minor clash broke out between protesters and locals at the Government Mixed Upper Primary School in Puthiyangadi, Kozhikode, during an attempt to shut it down as part of the strike. According to police, some teachers reached the school in the morning, following which the protesters closed the gates. Later, residents and parents of the students arrived in support of the teachers, leading to a minor scuffle. Police soon intervened and dispersed the crowd, after which the teachers also left the school, police said. Though public and private sector financial institutions had opened in the morning, they were later forcibly shut down by protesters. On the other hand, IT parks across Kerala operated with special transportation arrangements to enable employees to reach their offices. Also, industrial parks and the Special Economic Zone in Kochi operated with available staff who arrived on their vehicles. Trade unions held rallies and meetings in all districts. Elamaram Kareem, general secretary of the CPI(M)-affiliated trade union CITU, addressing protestors at Kochi, said workers are being exploited by corporates and major companies. He said that, as per established norms, a worker is required to work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, with 1 paid day off. ''However, corporate companies are now asking why the working time should be limited to eight hours,'' he said. He added that, with advancements in technology, labourers' working hours cannot be compared to those in earlier times. ''Technologies were invented to ease the work carried out by humans. Earlier, when it took 10 to 12 hours to complete a task, it has come down to eight hours. Some European countries have limited working hours to six a day with two days of paid leave a week,'' he said. He noted that in 1886, in Chicago, US, trade unions first took to the streets demanding an eight-hour workday. ''Now, to enable management to force employees to work for 12 hours, a new law has been brought in India by the BJP government. Workers cannot do anything against it, and owners are waiting for such a favourable order,'' he alleged.