The Hindu Business Line : ‘General strike’ peaceful, total

Kolkata, June 5 Today’s 12-hour “general strike” called by the Left Front in West Bengal to protest against the Centre’s decision to hike the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG was “total and spontaneous” with nearly all activity across the State coming to a standstill. Barring a few incidents, the strike was largely peaceful. Operations in the IT sector were normal.

Public transport and private vehicles went off the roads, several flights scheduled to depart in the morning hours were cancelled and several long-distance trains were cancelled, short-terminated or detained en route to their final destinations.

According to reports that have come in from the districts, all industrial activities in the state, except in a few process plants, came to a halt. A couple of jute mills were reported to be operational even as most of the tea estates in Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling remained closed.

Flight operations

Flight operations to and from the city were affected. Although a few early morning flights departed more or less on schedule, most airlines combined their morning departures with their scheduled operations in the evening.

A statement issued here by the state committee of CITU said the people of the state lent their “spontaneous support” to the 12-hour peaceful strike to register their protest “against the illogical decision of the Centre” to raise the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.

Mr Biman Bose, Chairman of the Left Front Committee, described the strike as “total and spontaneous”. He said the movement against the rise in the prices of petroleum products and LPG would continue.

Bandh today too

Tomorrow, the State will witness another 12-hour “bandh” that has been called by the Trinamool Congress – and also the BJP – to protest against the hike in the price of petroleum products and LPG. In view of the possibility of damage to buses, the State Government has decided not to ply any buses that are owned by state government-owned corporations tomorrow.

With a view to conserving resources, the State’s Finance Department will soon issue a circular restricting the use of pool cars by State government officials on Saturdays and Sundays. An approval from the Secretary of the concerned department would have to be obtained if state government officials need to use vehicles from the official pool on Saturdays and Sundays, a senior official of the Finance Department said.

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