Rains and strikes bring city to a halt

Strikes are rare in Pune city, but on Tuesday, it had a surfeit of them with college teachers, power utility staff, doctors and activists of the Republican Party of India staging strikes all at one go.

Over 10,000 state government employees jammed the busy Ambedkar Road in Camp area turning the normally chaotic traffic near the railway station even worse. The strike by the teaching staff in colleges continued for the seventh day on Tuesday and doctors continued to push for Sixth Pay Commission wages. 

Today was also the first day of the strike by the power utility staff.

They called off their strike by the end of the day. The RPI activists hit the city streets against rise in price of essential commodities.

Over 40,000 state government employees in the city are on strike. They have warned of an indefinite strike if 32 of their demands, including revised salary are not met. “Except DA, no allowance in accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission reflects in our pay slips,” said Ravindra Jagtap, president State Government Employees Federation.

The Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (MFUCTO) is planning to intensify their stir.

“We are planning morchas at various places,” said Atul Bagul, president, Pune University Teachers’ Association (PUTA). Around 1500 non-teaching staff from UoP have also threatened to go on strike from August 4. Around 450 government doctors at 96 primary health centers and 24 rural hospitals have been on an indefinite strike for higher pay.

“We are, however, providing emergency services,” said Kalyan Deshpande, chairman, Health Officers’ Federation. The MSEDCL staff strike impacted the routine of citizens the most. “We had a power-cut because of some cable problem from 12 noon. When we called up MSEDCL officials, they said they were on strike. We went without electricity for most part of the day,” said Deepak Sethi of Hadapsar area.

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