CM among two Ministers present on strike day

Kolkata, Dec 14 (UNI) The 24-hour nationwide strike could not have been felt more elsewhere than in West Bengal where even Ministers could not attend their offices.

The state Secretariat at the Writers' Buildings wore a deserted look with most of the employees being absent from duty. Only Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his maverick colleague Subhash Chakraborty could make it to drop in.

Only a handful of bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb and the Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray, could attend office because of drivers joining the strike.

The Chief Minister arrived at the secretariat little before eleven o'clock, while Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty left office after staying for a couple of hours.

The Left Front Government, headed by Mr Bhattacharjee, has a 44-member Council of Ministers.

Barring the presence of a large number of policemen, the absence of employees was so acute that even the collapsible gates at the intersections of corridores dividing blocks in the massive building remained locked.

According to Writers' Buildings sources, the overall attendance was barely five per cent.

Most of the employees of the secretariat are members of the CPI(M)-backed State Government Employees Coordination Committee, a powerful body and a solid support organisation of the ruling Left Front.

The strike was observed at a time when the Chief Minister was making efforts for wooing more investment by giving the state a facelift over a dubious image.

As the CITU, a partner of the NPMO, that called the nationwide strike, worked overtime for making it a success, the Chief Minister had directed to make all arrangements to ensure that those willing to work could go to their workplaces.

However, with the transport workers in both Government and private sectors joining the strike, his intention was belied.

In an apparent sarcasm to the Chief Minister's assurance that the administration would stand by the willing employees, the Transport Minister had earlier asked the people to ''come down walking if they can'' to join their duties.

He openly supported the strike and asked the people to join duty.

Mr Chakraborty, himself an important leader of the CITU, also calimed that the strike was observed in the IT sector, though the Chief Minister denied it.

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