Despite a Kerala High Court directive to the State administration on Monday to ‘issue appropriate orders preventing Government employees from going on strike’, the State remained shut down on Tuesday too making the 48-hour long General Strike called by the Left parties a total success in Kerala.
Normal life came to a standstill as public vehicles remained off the roads, shops and business establishments downing shutters and Government employees staying off work for the second day in succession. The strike was against the anti-people policies of the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre. Kannur, hosting the 23rd Party Congress of the CPI(M) in April has been exempted from the general strike by the party leaders as works were in full swing to complete the arrangements for the five-day mega event.
Though the High Court had on Monday asked the Government to issue necessary orders to all department heads to ensure that Rule 86 of the Kerala Government Servants Conduct Rules 1960 that barred Government employees from resorting to strike was not violated, it has not made any impact on Tuesday too. Those who came to resume their work on Tuesday morning were chased away by the trade union leaders and activists.
Chief Secretary V P Joy’s late Monday night statement that the unexplained absence of employees from work would be probed and dies non would be resorted to was met with guffaw by CPI(M) leaders like Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and M V Jayarajan. One of the NGO (Non-Gazetted Officers’) Union leaders asked which official had the courage to probe into such cases.
Jayarajan, reacting to Monday’s court order, said that the judiciary was not from the skies. Supporters of bundh forced all shops and business houses across the State to down the shutters on Tuesday morning despite the opposition by the liaison committee of trade and business communities.
People in the State have started enjoying these frequent shut downs under the garb of strike and hartals. “We had stocked sufficient food and liquor for three days on Saturday itself and the strike did not affect us in any way. It was like two day’s paid holidays,” said Justin Jose, an Ernakulam based employee in a public sector undertaking.
The section which was affected most because of the forced shut down was small and medium shopkeepers and vendors. “On an average, we do business worth Rs 3,000 per day. The two day strike made us poor by Rs 6,000,” said Nithyanandan, a road side vegetable vendor.
The pro-hartal group was strict with even two-wheeler drivers. The tyres of hundreds of bikes were deflated by party men while policemen stood as mute spectators.