Railways, road and water trasnport throughout the state were at a standstill. There were no take-offs and landings at calcutta Airport while the entire urban and rural transport system were totally shut down.

A significant development arising out of the strike call was that the state assembly bore a totally deserted look and not a single MLA, irrespective of political affiliation, attending the House.

The `Vidyasagar Mela Committee' in response to the strike call decided to close down the mela which had been drawing large crowds till date.

An important indicator of the success of the strike was the rate of consumption of electricity statewide. Normal consumption of electricity on a working day is 2000 MW, but it slumped to just 1200 MW today.

Since morning, demonstrations in support of the strike were held in both urban and rual areas. Gate meetings were held outside factories and workers marched the streets raising slogans against the liberalisation policies.

Kerala

The day witnessed a near total strike in Kerala. Hardly any industrial unit or shop or mercantile office was open, while the streets remained entirely deserted since there were no buses or other transport. Rail traffic was also at a standstill, and educational institutions remained closed throughout the state. There was no opposition to the strike anywhere.

During general strikes earlier, KSRTC buses used to be in convoys in some cities and towns to establish that buses plied on the strike day. Nobody attempted to enact this "tamasha" this time, indicating the mass response to the strike.

Another feature was that workers and employees belonging to INTUC and owing allegiance to BJP joined the strike. This demonstrate that the support extended to the liberalisation and globalisation offensive by the Congress(I) and BJP did not carry convcition among their own supporters.

Tripura

Living up to their tradition of joining forces with any nationwide democratic movement, the people of Tripura spontaneously joined the 24-hour general strike. Schools and colleges, offices and institutions remained closed. Vehicles remained off the roads and shops downed their shutters for the day. All industrial concerns including the tea gardens and the Tripura Jute Mills reamined closed. Workers held protest demonstrations in from other Jute Mill, the tea gardens and the office of the ONGC. In a word, the general strike has taekn the shape of a total and peaceful bandh with no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state.

Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry

December 11 proved a historic day of people's action in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry with overwhelming support to the general strike call. With massive campaigns by constituents of the National Platform of Mass Organisations over the last one month, the message was taken to all parts of the state.

In addition to the central trade unions viz, CITU, AITUC, LPF (DMK), HMS, AICCTU and UTUC (LS), almost all industrial federations of banks, insurance, state and central government employees, medical and sales representatives had given the call for general strike and were conducting campaigns. Almost all the unions in the public sector including oil sector had decided to join the strike. Agricultural workers unions also took part in the strike. Political parties in the state including the ruling DMK, TMC, CPI(M), CPI and Janata Dal supported the strike call. Even the AIADMK, an ally of the BJP government at the Centre, announced support for the strike as did smaller groups such as the Janata Party, Dravida Kazhagam (DK), Indian National League (INL) and others.

Various sections of traders, theatres and film exhibitors and small and tiny sector employers associations also supported the call. Industrial activity came to a halt. In Chennai and surrounding areas, almost all the major factories including Ashok Leyland, workers joined the strike. In the industrial estates around the capital city including the Madras Export Promotion Zone, the strike was complete. It was the same in industrial pockets of the state including Coimbatore, Tirupur, Trichy, Madurai, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Nagarcoil, Kancheepuram and other centres.

In traditional industries such as beedi, cashew, handloom, powerloom, pappad, etc the strike was complete. Plantation workers in Kanyakumari joined the strike as did headload and construction workers in other parts of the state.

The strike was almost complete in central public sector units including Neyveli Lignite, BHEL, Salem Steel, Kalpakkam Atomic Power Station, Indian OIl, HIndustan Photo Films and Hindustan Teleprinters. In some establishments, a section of officers also joined the strike.

Workers in the transport sector, electricity workers, as well as banking, insurance, telecom and postal employees enthusiastically responded to the strike call. So was the case with central and state government employees.

Karnataka

In Bangalore except one or two major industries, all other industries including small scale sector went on strike. The Bangalore-based public sector workers deferred the strike to December 14 in view of the AERO-98 show. In many colleges, students boycotted classes while some schools declared the day a holiday.

Reports indicate that the strike evoked a good response in the district towns and many taluka experienced a total bandh. However, in Bangalore city life was normal.

The Janata Dal president issued a statement supporting the strike but it appeared in the media only today. KSRTC union did not give a strike call.

Throughout the state, thousands of workers and students were arrested. In LIC and GIC strike was total throughout Karanataka. Most of the banks were closed.

Bihar

The general strike call received a splendid response from almost every section of the people throughout Bihar, affecting the work in industries, railways, coal mines, commercial establoshments, government offices, schools and colleges.

The industrial belt of south Bihar reported near total strike in industrial units in both public and private sector. The coal industry reported 90% strike and in Bokaro steel plant 70% workers stayed away from work. Markets were closed and roads deserted in most of the industrial towns such as Ranchi, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, and Bokaro. Long distance trains remained virtually absent in the state.

The banking industry witnessed a near total strike while a bulk of the state government employees responded to the call. However, in the state secretariat the strike call received partial response.

There were large scale arrests in state. In Patna, the state secretary of the CPI(M), Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi alongwith senior state level leaders of the Party were arrested. Prominent CPI leaders were also arrested. In the university area, many student leader belonging to SFI and AISF were arrested. According to reports received at Patna, more than 500 arrests have been made throughout Bihar.

Orissa

In Orissa, the strike was fairly successful with the airport not working, buses off the roads, rail transport badly affected, and shops and commercial establishments closed. All banks barring a few branches of the State Bank of India were closed. Insurance offices were also closed.There was a complete shut down of work in the mines. The Orissa High Court also did not function as advocates refused to attend work. More than 600 volunteers and leaders of the CPI(M) were arrested in the different towns including the capital Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. 

Delhi

The strike evoked a very good response in Delhi and adjoining areas with about 10 lakh workers participating in the hartal. In course of today's strike, CITU leader H.C. Pant was arrested and the Delhi Police resorted to a lathi charge on a big rally of workers in Wazirpur Industrial area. Several workers were injured in the police action. Mass rallies were taken out in the Kirti Nagar-Naraina industrial area, in NOida, and Jhilmil Industrial Areas.

Factories and offices remained closed in all the industrial areas of Delhi and adjoining areas. Apart from this, the workers at Terminal II cargo Complex at the airport observed a total strike. The workers of Indian Airlines held a dharna at Safdarjung Airport, BEL employees held one at Ghaziabad, and a huge rally of workers was taken out in Faridabad.

HARYANA

In Haryana, the Bansi Lal government resorted to severe repressive measures to fail the strike, but met with no success at all. On the night of December 8 itself, a police party comprising more than 150 police personnel, raided the meeting venue of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh at Hisar, and arrested 44 employee leaders including the entire state leadership of the Sangh, among those arrested was also the state secretary of Anganwadi workers union.

Meanwhile the leaders arrested prior to the strike in Panipat, in a statement from the their place of detention, thanked the public for its overwhelming support to the strike. Thousands of workers including a large number of women, took out a protest demonstration through the main streets of the town, in defiance of the Section 144 CrPc, imposed on the eve of the strike. All the banks, LIC offices and all the three colleges of Panipat remained closed today.

MADHYA PRADESH

Despite the large scale arrests and brutal police repression, the industrial strike in the state was complete. According to the information received in the CITU state office, by 1 P.M.in the afternoon, there was a powerful impact of the strike in Chambal, Malwa, Chattisgarh, Mahakaushal and Vindhaya regions of the state. Most of the industries in the state were closed. Banks, LIC offices and other financial institutions remained closed, even the attendance in the government offices was also thin. Rallies were held in many places in the state, including the state capital Bhopal.

The major impact of the strike was in the coal industry today. Work in the three coal companies in the state-the SECL, the WCL and the NCL was badly affected due to the workers strike.

The statewide strike of the Anganwadi workers throughout MP was complete, with more than 70,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers on strike. There are reports of "rail roko" and "rasta roko" from different parts of the state, during the courese of which many leaders of the mass organisations were arrested.

ASSAM

The general strike call paralysed normal life in the state today, as the call evoked a massive response in the entire state, and took the form of a bandh. All offices of the central and the state government, banks and other financial institutions, educational institutions shops and business establishments remained closed. The vehicular traffic was off the roads, and the railway authorities were forced to either cancel or reschedule the trains as the picketers squatted on the railway tracks at several places in the state. Air services were also disrupted severely, as no flights could take off or land at the Guwahati airport.

The city of Guwahati wore a deserted look during the strike, as normal life was totally disrupted. More than three thousand strike volunteers were arrested in this city itself. At Rangiya, the police resorted to blank firing to scare away the protestors. At Barpeta the police arrested the striking volunteers. At Nalbari, the protestors were lathi charged. Reports were flowing in all parts of the state regarding complete strikes.

All the tea gardens in Assam witnessed strikes and hartals> There was a complete strike in the three districts of Barag valley. It may be recalled that in Asaam the strike call was supported by the AGP also, apart from the Left parties.

PUNJAB

Empty Railway Tracks

Reports of protest actions from 17 major centres of the state have been received, including the major industrial towns of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Rajpura, Balachaur, Abohar, Malout, and Batala.