General strike: Workers, employees, farmers take out protest marches in Hassan and Shivamogga

The employees and workers associated with the central trade unions and farmers took part in protest marches in Hassan and Shivamogga as part of a day-long general strike on Thursday. The Joint Committee of Trade Unions had called for the general strike against the Union Government’s ‘anti-worker’ and ‘anti-farmer’ policies.

The workers associated with the CITU took out a march in Hassan and staged a picket at the Head Post Office in the city. They raised slogans against the Centre and demanded that the four new labour codes be withdrawn. They opposed the privatisation of public sector undertakings and the renaming of the MGNREGA.

The protesters laid siege to the post office in the city. Addressing the gathering, Dharmesh, the district president of the CITU, stated that the Union Government had been adopting policies against the interests of farmers and workers. The budget recently presented by the Union Government offered no remedy for the problems faced by the common people of the country. The government notified the Labour Codes despite opposition from the labour unions, he said.

CITU district secretary M.B.Pushpa, AITUC district president M.C.Dongre, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha president H.R.Naveen Kumar and others led the protest.

In Shivamogga, workers associated with the AITUC, along with members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, joined the protest march. The march began at the Science Field and concluded at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.”

The protesters demanded that the government grant land to the bagair hukum cultivators and refrain from initiating any process to evict them. The farmers should receive a three-phase power supply for at least seven hours a day. They also urged the Union Government to invest funds to rejuvenate the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant in Bhadravathi.

KRRS president H.R.Basavarajappa, labour union leaders Chandrappa, I.B. Jagadish and others led the protest.