‘Shut Down India’: Indian Workers Strike Against Economic Reforms 

Hundreds of thousands of workers across India went on strike Wednesday, disrupting public services and manufacturing in Asia’s third-largest economy, to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic reforms, including the privatization of state-run companies, the Associated Press reported. 

A coalition of 10 major trade unions, along with several organizations representing farmers and rural workers, called for a one-day industrial strike, naming it “Bharat Bandh” – Hindi for “Shut Down India.”  

Besides stopping the privatization program, the workers are asking for higher wages, the repeal of new labor laws, and additional staff to fill vacancies within the government. 

Farmers are also demanding an increase in the minimum purchase price of crops, such as wheat and rice.  

The strike halted coal mining operations in a number of states, and disrupted rail and road traffic. Some schools, offices, stores, and banks were forced to close. In the financial capital, Mumbai, bank employees chanted against the privatization of state-run banks. In Kolkata, people protested at a local railway station, shouting anti-government slogans and burning an effigy of Modi.  

The strike dealt another blow to Modi’s efforts to attract foreign companies by loosening labor laws aimed at streamlining business operations and increasing productivity. 

The new measures are intended to open parts of the economy to direct foreign investment and offer billions of dollars in financial incentives to attract investment to shore up local manufacturing. They also aimed at reducing the budget deficit by privatizing state-owned companies deemed unprofitable. Meanwhile, the new labor laws would provide workers with higher minimum wages, social security, and healthcare. 

Trade unions, however, remain skeptical and want the new laws scrapped.  

While the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, police arrested around 30,000 striking workers, trade union officials said.