Bharat Bandh confirmed: Talks between govt,trade unions fail

Bangalore, Feb 19: Brace up for 48-hour-long nation-wide Bharat Bandh starting from Wednesday, Feb 20. The call of the Bandh has been confirmed after talks between government officials and trade union members failed.

The bandh has been called by 11 trade union bodies.

Some of the trade unions, who are participating in the strike, are - Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and many others.

The Bandh has been called against privatisation, outsourcing, violation of labour laws, and price rise.

Around 100 million workers associated with various trade union bodies are likely to join the strike.

Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appealed to the trade union bodies to withdraw their strike. PM said the All-India strike will hugely effect the economy and cause large-scale inconveniences to the general public.

Several state governments have supported the Bandh, which include Odisha, Karnataka and Bihar.

Earlier government appointed senior leaders of UPA AK Antony, Sharad Pawar and Mallikarjun Kharge to meet the trade union members. But, talks failed.

"The government has nothing to offer. We are going ahead with the strike. We expect it to be hugely successful," said CITU president A K Padmanabhan, after talks failed.

The strike is going to disrupt normal lives as buses and auto-rickshaws will not ply on roads. Several schools and colleges will be forced to declare holidays for two days.

OneIndia News