Bharat Bandh: Trade Unions accuse Centre of diluting worker rights; demand rollback of new labour codes
Scores of people walked the streets across the country, carrying their trade union flags and slogans, and presented their demands through a 17-point charter. The trade unions have accused the Centre of diluting workers' rights, alleging that the central government is pushing economic reforms without considering the impact on workers.
The Bharat Bandh, General Strike was earlier called on May 20, however trade unions decided to defer the call to July 9, keeping in mind the escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir, and India's decisive reply with Operation Sindoor launched on May 7, targeting terrorist bases in Pakistan.
Workers across the country, including in Delhi, Odisha, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, presented their demands, with multiple political parties also voicing support for the strike.
The protests saw varied responses from people from across the country. As Kerala saw multiple shops shut down, transport services affected, the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu saw bus services resume shortly after today. State-run buses in West Bengal saw their services affected today.
Meanwhile, in Bihar, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also attended a 'Bihar Bandh' rally, raising the issue of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out in Bihar.
Several senior leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, including CPI General Secretary D Raja, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Kanhaiya Kumar, and Sanjay Yadav, also participated in the protest.
Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is trying to repeat 'voter theft' in Bihar, just like in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
'The way there was vote theft in the Maharashtra elections, a similar attempt is being made in Bihar,' the Congress leader said.
Gandhi also raised questions over the rise in voter numbers between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra, alleging that all newly added votes went to the BJP. He claimed that the INDIA alliance's poor performance in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, despite a Lok Sabha majority, prompted a deeper data review that revealed suspicious voting patterns.
Notably, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, also present at the rally, criticised the Election Commission of India for its decision to revise electoral rolls, calling it a 'Godi Aayog.'
Yadav accused the NDA alliance of using the Election Commission of India to remove the name of 'Bihar's poor people' from the voter list.
Congress workers, while participating in the bandh, lay down on the road to block vehicles in Patna.
In West Bengal, clashes erupted during the Bharat Bandh rally. In the Naxalbari area, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and trade union leaders clashed with each other. Meanwhile, in Kolkata, the Police removed protesters from the street to allow a bus to pass through.
On Bharat Bandh, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, 'Where was Bharat closed, Bengal was fully operational. Public life was fully normal... There was traffic on the roads... If 10-12 people try to block the road, then what will the police do? They tried to remove them normally...'
In Odisha's Bhubaneswar, the ten central trade unions were joined by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)'s trade wing, 'Biju Shramik Samukhya,' protesting weakened workers' rights.
BJD leader Prafulla Samal, while participating in the rally, told ANI, 'The labour organisation of BJD not only supports the protest but has also done the work to make this protest successful... The government at the centre and state is against the workers... The govt has not done anything for the workers... Now they have converted the 44-level law of labour into the four labour codes, which only benefits the owners.'
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said that this is the 32nd general strike in the history of independent India.
'This will be another historical strike since the last 32 years of the new liberal policy, and it is the 23rd general strike of India... The BJP government has converted four labour codes out of 29 labour laws in the name of ease of doing business. The minimum wage for all categories of workers must be Rs 26,000 per month. For MANREGA, we demand that there should be 200 working days and Rs 600 wage per working day,' the CPI(M) leader said.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala highlighted in Karnataka how over 25 crore protesting workers are carrying out the Bharat Bhand due to the unavailability of jobs in the country.
'Over 25 crore workers and farmer unions are participating (in Bharat Bandh). Bharat Bandh because BJP's new translation is B for 'Band Karo', J for 'Jobs Chheeno' and P for 'Phasad Karvao'... The principal issue is there are no jobs for the young in the country - 30 lakh jobs are vacant, but the government refuses to fill them... The unemployment rate has crossed 30% and at a 45-year high... Budget of MNREGA has stagnated,' Surjewala said in Bengaluru.
While in Jharkhand's Ranchi, Congress's Rajesh Thakur said, 'Now people have no work to do, people are now spreading rumours in panic because of how successful the Bharat Bandh yatra was. There is nothing special about who climbed the truck and who did not. It is clear that when we go out for the public interest, then we don't see whose stage it is... BJP workers keep spreading such types of rumours.'
On March 18, 2025, before the Trade Unions decided to defer the strike to July 9, the National Convention of Workers, organised by the Central Trade Unions and Independent Sectoral Federations and Associations, adopted a Declaration with a call for a two-month-long campaign to culminate in a Nationwide General Strike on 20th May 2025.
The event, organised at Delhi's Pyare Lal Bhawan, had representatives from multiple Central Trade Unions across states, looking to 'resist against the anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-people policies of the BJP government,' according to a statement from the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).
'Voices rose in unison, in a chorus of condemnation against the central government that deliberately maintains more than a decade long deaf ear to the consistent demands of the Trade Unions on the one side and their collective rejection of its policies on the other,' the statement added.
'The convention sent out a scathing attack on the brazenly pro-corporate policies in favour of the crony capitalists, creation of monopoly and duopoly capitalists that are detrimental to the working people and overall economic well-being of the country,' the statement read on March 18.
The Central Government in 2020 codified 29 laws into 4 Codes. The centre said the aim is to ensure workers receive security, along with respect, health, and other welfare measures, with ease. The new labour codes include the Code on Wages, Industrial Relations Code, Code on Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.
A total of 10 CTU's, including the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), and the United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) participated in the Bharat Bandh. However, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) did not participate. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
AICC directs KPCC to consult state leaders
KOTTAYAM: As the state Congress gears up for an organisational revamp, the AICC has passed the buck to the state leadership. In an attempt to ensure unity within the party, the AICC has asked the state leadership to consult senior leaders in the state before going for the KPCC reshuffle. The directive was issued during the meeting KPCC president Sunny Joseph and working president P C Vishnunath had with AICC general secretaries Deepa Das Munshi and K C Venugopal in New Delhi. According to sources, the KPCC chief and working presidents will soon initiate talks with senior leaders to seek their opinion regarding the revamp. Though it has been decided to carry out the reshuffle prior to the local body polls later this year, the leadership is not rushing the process. 'The consultations have not begun yet. We have not set any time frame for the revamp, because talks needed to be held at different leadership levels,' said a top Congress leader. The KPCC revamp is being carried out in view of a report by Deepa Das Munshi, who recommended restructuring to strengthen the party ahead of elections. According to insiders, instead of a total overhaul, the KPCC will be expanded with more office-bearers so as to avoid any fuss over the revamp ahead of upcoming elections. 'There will not be major changes in the KPCC, but only some minor additions will be made,' said the leader. Meanwhile, senior leaders in the state are closely watching the leadership's movements. They are resolute in their stance that any unilateral decision regarding revamp won't be accepted. As part of the move, senior leader and Congress Working Committee special invitee Ramesh Chennithala has already met former KPCC presidents K Sudhakaran and V M Sudheeran, who are currently undergoing Ayurveda treatment in Poonjar in Kottayam.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
AP Chambers seeks a ban on export of raw human hair
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) has submitted a detailed representation to Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu urging his personal intervention to stop the export of raw human hair, especially non-Remy (comb waste/GAoli/Chutti) hair, to safeguard the domestic human hair industry. In the representation, AP Chambers' president Potluri Bhaskara Rao and general secretary B Rajasekhar highlighted that in the last 20 years, the demand for Non-Remy Hair had gone up exponentially and Chinese buyers were buying huge quantities till 2012-13 from Indian exporters. But in the last 10 years, China has started reducing legal imports by smuggling Non-Remy (Comb Waste Hair) through Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Nepal where it is processed with child labour and again smuggled to China across border to avoid duties. Despite an earlier ban imposed in March 2022 by DGFT, exports resumed shortly after, including by previously blacklisted traders. Non-Remy Hair forms 85 percent of total exports and only 15 percent of hair is Remy Hair, sourced from temples, which is sold in auction/direct sales by temples. They pointed out that the Indian Human Hair Extension and Wig industry, currently valued at Rs 8,000 crore, has the potential to grow to Rs 30,000 crore in the next decade. The industry, which has a major presence in Madepalli and Eluru, provides employment to over 10 lakh women across rural India. AP Chambers also made key suggestions including the export of raw human hair having ITC (HS) Code 05010010 should be strictly prohibited to make it available for Indian hair processors for value-addition, Remy-type hair from temples should not be sold to China or Chinese agents, restrict temple hair auctions only to registered manufacturers/exporters and not to illegal trader to support 'Make it India' initiative of the Union government, establishment of a dedicated research chair for human hair at IIT Chennai to foster R & D, reduction of duties on human hair imported by countries wherever India has any bilateral agreements, incentives or subsidies to hair exported to African countries as they are the biggest consumers of hair and wigs as they will help boost the exports to African countries. Bhaskara Rao emphasised that this is a unique industry that transforms waste into valuable foreign exchange while empowering lakhs of women through rural employment. He requested the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal to ensure the long-term sustainability and growth of the human hair industry in Andhra Pradesh and India.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Elocution competition on Indian Constitution from July 20
Ongole: Prakasam Zilla Abhivriddhi Vedika president Chunduri Rangarao announced that in association with Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights, Constitutional Rights Protection Forum, and other public fronts, they are conducting an elocution competition on Constitution of India, from July 20 to 26 in Ongole, to educate citizens about their fundamental rights and responsibilities. Speaking at a press conference in Ongole on Friday, Rangarao emphasised that every citizen must develop awareness about the Constitution and protect the rights and responsibilities it guarantees. He highlighted that the Indian Constitution, crafted under Dr BR Ambedkar's leadership and implemented on January 26, 1950, is the world's finest constitution after studying the constitutions of various countries. He described the Constitution as India's 'Dharma Sastra', and noted that all Indian citizens are duty-bound to accept it. Chunduri Rangarao, OPDR AP president; Chavali Sudhakar, PTSU AP vice president; Rajasekhar, and others explained that the elocution competition will be held in students and youth categories, from July 20 to 26, between 10 am and 2 pm, at Media Cameramen Association Bhavan, in Devudu Cheruvu, Ongole. They informed that there is a cash prize of Rs 10,000 for first, second, and third positions, along with 10 consolation prizes and prize distribution will be held in August first week, with retired Central Information Commission Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar as the chief guest. The organisers encouraged maximum participation in the competition to ensure the program's success. They emphasized that awareness of the Constitution at the student level is crucial for the nation's comprehensive development.
