Functioning in IT sector more than normal : CM

Kolkata, Dec 14 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee said functioning in the Information Technology sector here was more than normal today despite the Left trade unions -sponsored 24-hour nationwide Industrial strike.

Commenting on the impact of the strike in the state's IT sector, neither categorised as a public utility service nor as an emergency service, the Chief Minister waxed eloquent about the reported 60 to 70 per cent attendance in most of the IT companies in Salt Lake Sector Five.

Refusing to comment on the overall situation in the state, where life had in fact come to a grinding halt, Mr Bhattacharjee, who always vouched for the exemption of the IT sector from the purview of any strike, said the attendance was more than normal in most of the sofatware companies at Salt Lake.

On whether the state government was officially opposing the strike in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling in this regard, Mr Bhattacherjee replied positive, but made it clear that "unlike most of the other states, in West Bengal the government and the party are not different".

Incidentally, only about one per cent of around 6,000-odd state government employees in Writers' Buildings attended office.

Among the VIPs, who atended office, included the Chief Minister himself and state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty.

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