India grinds to a halt

Photo © Photokore.com

India witnessed a nationwide strike yesterday. Stores pulled down their shutters. Railway lines and national highways are blocked leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Shopkeepers, traders, laborers are all united in protest with the opposition parties against the Prime Minister’s latest retail reforms on two prime issues- to allow foreign superstore chains such as Wal-Mart and Tesco to set up base in India and the sharp price hike on diesel.
The ruling party has argued that the effort is to revive the sluggish economy to herald a consumer revolution. This move, they said, promised to create new jobs and offer a choice for local consumers.
However, the decision was met with universal protests from both the opposition parties and trade unions who called for the strike. Policemen in the thousands have been deployed in Kolkata to prevent violence. The worst is yet to come as large rallies are planned later in the day in New Delhi and other cities. Private schools have also been shut down although government schools and offices remain open. It is estimated that at least 50 million people will participate in the rally against the retail reforms which are feared to topple over several smaller local businesses, neighborhood stores and lead to drastic job losses. Only Mumbai remains largely unaffected as the government did not support the strike

. (Based on Khaleejtimes.com