: Normal life was affected on Friday due to the one-day nationwide strike called by Central trade unions protesting the anti-labour policies of the government. Many industries downed shutters and banks remained close on Friday.
As many as ten Central trade unions called bandh on a 12-point charter of demands protesting the indifferent attitude of the government in conceding their demands. Trade unions of the Congress, the YSRC, the CPI, the CPI (M), the Telugu Desam and other parties participated in the protest.
Mahila sanghams, trade unions and other organisations affiliated to the parties too joined the strike. Protesters took out a rally from Radham Centre to Lenin Centre. Employees of various government departments, NGOs association and workers unions participated in the strike. They demanded that the government raise the minimum monthly income to Rs. 18,000 and pension of Rs. 3,000 to all workers. Traffic came to a standstill in many places. The strike evoked good response in West Godavari, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and other districts in the State. Police personnel were deployed in strength at bus and railway stations and at all public places to avert any untoward incident.
Very few passengers were seen at the bus and railway stations. Auto unions operated three-wheelers at many places. But, many State government offices and private establishments functioned normally. In some parts of the State, police took protesters into custody when they when they tried to disrupt bus and train services.
