CITU sponsored strike partially affects life in Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 8 (UNI) Life in West Bengal was partially hit as a CITU-sponsored nationwide strike today paralysed the unorganised sector and affected other areas.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said the strike was peaceful and no untoward incident had been reported from anywhere in the state.

Trains, buses and metro rail in the city maintained service, while normal functioning was reported from factories, banks, government and private establishments.

However, the number of buses plying on the road was less and attendance in many offices was below normal.

Many of the shops in the city were closed while all taxis, autos and rickshaws remained immobile causing hardship to the commuters.

Thousands of passengers at NSCBI airport and Howrah station faced difficulty in reaching their destination.

Trucks, lorries and tankers were also off the road paralysing goods transportation.

The CITU unit of Bengal,however, exempted private, mini, chartered and school buses from under the purview of the strike despite the services being under the organised sector.

Hotels, restaurants and a number of essential services were also kept out of the review of strike.

Congratulating the people, CITU West Bengal state committee Secretary Kali Ghosh said the strike was ''successful and spontaneous''.

''The strike evoked more reponse than we expected and it was successful even in areas where our organisation does not have a strong presence,'' he said in a joint press conference with CITU state President Shyamal Chakraborty.

The strike was called in support of a 15-point charter of demands, including fixation of wages for labourers in the unorganised sector and their social security.

It covered about 1.5 crore people in the state in 60 professional areas, including stone crushing industry, brick kilns, tailoring and garment manufacturing, printing press, handloom and hosiery, saloon, bakery, saw-mills, coir industry, oil-mills, small chemical and plastic industry, motor garages, abbatoirs, retail business, bidi industry and building construction.

All self-employed labourers, including street and railway hawkers, porters, cobblers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and goldsmiths, are also covered by the strike.

UNI