No effect of strike in Goa; banking ops normal

Normal life remained unaffected so far in Goa on Wednesday on the day of a nationwide strike called by 10 central trade unions to protest against the government's "anti-people" policies. Various labour unions held a public meeting under the banner of the 'Goa Convention of Workers' at the Azad Maidan in Panaji.

Most of the banks, including nationalised ones, are functioning normally, while only a few private industries recorded low attendance. Addressing a gathering of around 2,000 people at the Azad Maidan, AITUC general secretary Christopher Fonseca appealed to workers to protest against the "anti-labour policies of the Central government." He said "pro-capitalist" policies of the Centre have "broken the backbone of the working class." "Several nationalised banks are closing down due to wrong policies of the Union government, which needs immediate correction," he said.

The opposition Congress is also supporting the strike. Trade unions INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC along with various sectoral independent federations and associations had adopted a declaration in September last year to go on the nationwide strike on January 8.

The trade unions have claimed around 25 crore people are participating in the strike to protest against the government's "anti-people" policies..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)