Normal life was disrupted across Odisha on Wednesday due to the country-wide general strike called by 10 central trade unions to protest inflation, growing unemployment and "anti-people policies" of the BJP-led central government.
Train and bus services were hit in several parts of the state with trade union activists, backed by supporters of the Left parties and the Congress, blocking railway tracks and roads in support of the 24-hour strike.
Shops and business establishments remained shut in most parts of the state. Educational institutes were also closed in many districts.
Banking operations were hit, while the strikers kept emergency services such as hospitals and ambulances out of the purview. The state government had issued prior directive for its employees to reach their respective offices early.
Elaborate security arrangements were made at many places, including state capital Bhubaneswar to prevent any untoward incident during the strike.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Anup Sahoo said 15 platoons(each platoon has 33 personnel) have been deployed to maintain law and order during the strike.
More From This Section
Adequate force deployment has been made near important government buildings such as Lok Seva Bhavan. The strikers staged demonstrations at Master Canteen, Jaydev Vihar, Acharya Vihar, Rasulgarh, Patia, Vani Vihar square and other areas, police said.
The strike has been peaceful so far with no untoward incident reported from any part of the state, a senior police officer said.
A large number of passengers were stranded at several places as more than 15 trains were stuck due to blockades at Talcher, Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Keonjhargarh, Brahmapur, Puri and Cuttack, a railway official said.
Many passengers were also stranded at bus stands in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Balssore, Bhadrak, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur, among others, police said.
As a precautionary measure, shools were closed in Kandhamal, Ganjam, Dhenkanal, Khurda, Bhadrak, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Rayagada, Jharsuguda, Nayagarh, Boudh, Jajpur, Malkargiri, Kendrapara and Kalahandi districts, sources said.
Describing the strike as a complete success, state Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik said people have extended support to the agitation spontaneously as they are fed up with the "anti-labour and anti-farmer" policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre.
While prices of all commodities have sky-rocketed, educated youth are not getting employment because of the faulty policies of the Narendra Modi government which has destroyed the economy of the country, he alleged.
The strike has been called by trade unions INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC, along with various sectoral independent federations and associations.