THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 24-hour motor vehicle strike called by the All India Motor Transport Organisation demanding the withdrawal of the proposed Motor Vehicle (MV) Amendment Bill, was total in the state. The public and private bus services including KSRTC buses, freight vehicles, taxis and autorickshaws stayed off the roads. Only private cars and two-wheelers were on the roads in the morning.
However, shops, establishments, hotels and restaurants functioned without disruption. Almost all the trade unions, except the BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), took part in the stir. Though private vehicles were plying across the state as usual, attendance was skeletal in government offices. There was huge rush in trains and the passengers reaching at railway stations from far off places had a tough time with the absence of public transport.
The activists of various trade unions took out marches in various places in solidarity to the strike. In the capital city protesters took out march from East Fort to Secretariat. Though some skirmishes were reported from a few places between protesters and taxi and auto drivers, who tried to take their vehicles despite the shutdown, the strike was almost peaceful. KSRTC buses stayed off the roads owing to the token strike by the joint trade union committee. No KSRTC buses operated.
The service of interstate and long routes inside the state stopped from Monday midnight. The KSRTC employees took part in the strike raising demand such as wage hike and payment of dues in dearness allowance.The trade unions will conduct a meeting soon to decide a further date for an indefinite strike as the KSRTC management shows no interest to accept their demands, KSRTC union leaders said in Thiruvananthapuram.