Mamata warns traders; CITU threatens legal action

Kolkata : With the West Bengal government declaring it will not allow forcible enforcement of the two-day industrial strike called by central trade unions, CPI-M affiliated CITU Tuesday threatened taking legal course if the state government prevented workers from participating.

“Strike is a democratic right of every worker and no government can forcefully prevent anyone from participating in a strike. It is illegal, and we might have to resort to legal recourse against the state government if it uses force to disrupt the strike,” CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty said.

The Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress government has already declared it will not allow strikes in the state as it caused heavy financial and economic losses to the state and the common people.

The government has already issued a notification declaring that all government offices should remain open and all the government employees should report on duty on Feb 20-21- the days of strike.

“State government employees will not be granted a leave on these days. Attempts to forcibly close government offices, markets, and educational institutions will be firmly dealt with,” read the notification signed by state Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra.

Banerjee has repeatedly said that those resorting to violence to enforce the strike will be dealt severely and has made appeals to the general public not to participate in the strike.

Her government has also said that stern action will be taken against those who will keep their shops shut without reasonable cause during the days of the strike.

Meanwhile state Transport Minister Madan Mitra held a meeting with transport operators and said that all modes of transport will function normally. The government will indemnify the operators in case of damage to their vehicles during the strike, he assured.

“We have had meetings with several public insurance companies and any damage caused to vehicles during the strike would be covered under the clause of strike, riot or any malicious act,” said Mitra.

Mamata warns traders of strict action if shops closed

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday warned of strict action against traders who would not keep their shops open during the two-day strike called by the central trade unions.

Banerjee held a meeting with different trader organisations at the state secretariat ahead of the 48-hour countrywide shutdown called by the trade unions from Wednesday.

“The chief minister appealed to the state’s traders and retailers to keep shops open during Wednesday and Thursday. She said strict administration actions will be taken against the traders who will not keep their shops open during the strike,” Forum of Traders’ general secretary
Rabindranath Koley, who was present at the meet, told IANS.

According to Koley, there are a total of 10 lakh traders in Kolkata while the number is 50 lakhs across the state.

The chief minister, who is opposing the strike, earlier asked government employees to come to office on the days of strike.

CPI-M’s labour wing CITU, however, dubbed Banerjee’s attempt to foil the shutdown as “illegal”.

“No chief minister or state government has the right to take away workers’ right to participate in a strike,” CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty told reporters.

“The government is trying to take away people’s right to protest in a peaceful way. One cannot force people not to participate in a strike. It is anti constitutional and unlawful,” said Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Surya Kanta Mishra.