The one-day motor vehicle strike organised by the all-party trade unions protesting against oil price hike was generally peaceful in the district, said Additional District Magistrate B Ramachandran.
“No untoward incidents were reported in the district,” he said. “Of the 164 government employees in the district collectorate, only 48 were absent,” he said. But most of the government offices wore a deserted look, since the majority of employees who reported for work left early.
In general, the functioning of most government offices and educational institutions was hit. The examinations scheduled in universities, colleges and schools for the day had to be postponed.
Very significant meetings convened by several government departments were also postponed, including the meeting of LPG distributors at the collectorate.
The functioning of the departments at the collectorate were also affected. The government had arranged special KSRTC buses to different parts of the city. “The special KSRTC services were of help to the public,” he said.
A senior official in the Infopark said that unlike the government sector the functioning of the IT hub was not affected. “We could carry out our normal work. Most of the employees managed to reach office,” he said.
Meanwhile, K A Ali Akbar, the state vice-president of the Joint Coordination Committee of the motor vehicles unions said, “the strike was a success in the district, with a large number of working people participating.
The ruthless price rise will ruin the life of all sections of the population.
The people are enraged with the anti-people policies of the Central Government,” he said.
The striking workers took out a procession from Ernakulam Town Hall which culminated at the High Court junction.
K A Ali Akbar, R Raghuraj, Binu Varghese, V P Praveen, V L Zakeer Hussain and P S Akbar spoke.