BBC News: “Opposition parties and trade unions in India are staging a day-long strike over plans to open the country’s retail sector to global supermarket chains.
Workers blocked railways in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states, and Calcutta and Bangalore virtually shut down, but the response was more mixed elsewhere.
The reforms are essential to revive India’s slowing economy, ministers say.
A key ally left the ruling coalition in protest, although its majority in parliament is not at immediate risk.
The Congress-led government attempted to introduce the retail reforms last year, but backed down in the face of opposition.
Thursday’s nationwide strike, called by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its allies and Communist parties, has shut down schools, businesses and public transport in many cities.
TV channels showed protests taking place in the cities of Patna, Allahabad and Varanasi in northern India.
Most businesses were shut in the eastern city of Calcutta and public transport was disrupted, reports said.
The southern state of Karnataka, which is governed by the BJP, was shut down in response to the strike call with buses off the roads and schools, hotels and businesses closed. The state capital, Bangalore – home to hundreds of IT companies including multinationals like IBM and Microsoft – was completely shut down.
“We have asked our employees to stay back at home. We will instead work on Saturday,” an official of Infosys, one of India’s leading software companies, said.
“The fear factor is the reason for the closure,” a spokesperson for another multinational company told the BBC.
The Confederation of All India Traders said 50 million people were expected to participate in the protests, and that large demonstrations were planned in Delhi and other cities.
However, much of the capital was operating normally on Thursday, BBC reporters said. There was a similar picture in the financial capital, Mumbai.”
via BBC News – India strike over supermarket reforms.
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