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The nation-wide bandh call given by the major central trade unions barring the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) evoked a good response here on Friday from the working class and also the general public. Especially, the functioning of major PSUs such as the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited) was badly affected due to the strike.
According to Ch. Narasinga Rao, the CPM and CITU leader, the response to the bandh call was total in Visakhapatnam steel plant, the PSUs such as the BHEL and also the Visakhaptnam port. "The policies of the NDA Government have hit PSUs such as the RINL badly and for the first time in recent years the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant ended up with huge losses during 2015-16. The Union Government is not allotting captive iron ore mines to the RINL and the plant is unable to compete in the market due to the handicap, as the production cost is too high," he said.
He said the demand for a minimum wage of Rs 18,000 a month for the labour in the unorganised sector was also quite justified and pending for a long time, but the Government was not at all responsive.
The APSRTC buses were also off the road in response to the bandh call as many of the unions responded and only a few buses were seen. The auto-rickshaws were also off the road. Many of the shops and commercial establishments were also kept closed.
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