Indians strike over walk-out ban

The strike paralysed the financial markets

More than a million government employees have taken part in a one-day strike in India.

Work in many government banks, offices and state-owned firms was affected.

Communist-ruled West Bengal and Kerala states were hardest hit by the strike, which was more limited in other parts of the country.

Unions called the walk-out in protest at a Supreme Court ban on the right of government employees to strike because of the disruption it causes.

Trade unions believe government employees are being denied a fundamental right.

"We were left with no choice because the government didn't give us a sympathetic hearing," said Shantha Raju, a leader of the All India Co-ordination Committee of Unions in the Finance Sector.

Calcutta 'shut-down'

The bustling eastern metropolis of Calcutta, the West Bengal capital, was badly affected on Tuesday, with no transport on the streets.

"Hundreds of people were stranded at the city's international airport as no transport was available," an official of the Airports Authority of India told AFP news agency.

We were left with no choice because the government didn't give us a sympathetic hearing Union leader Shantha Raju

Union leaders in Kerala said the strike there had been total.

Worst-hit were state-run banks and insurance companies.

In the financial capital, Bombay (Mumbai), trading was partially affected.

Vijay Bhambwani, CEO of the investment advisers BSPL Indian.com told the BBC's World Business Report that the strike had achieved its purpose.

"The strike has paralysed the financial markets to a great degree," he said.

"There is practically no movement of funds, there is no clearing of cheques and money is not changing hands."

The strike also affected work in government institutions in the southern city of Bangalore, India's information technology centre.

Strike ban

The Supreme Court ruled last year that "no political party or organisation can claim a right to paralyse the economic and industrial activities of a state or the nation or inconvenience the citizens".

A general strike in India last May cost the economy around $320m

The ruling related to cases arising from a major strike in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, as a result of which the state government sacked 176,000 employees.

Most of the employees were reinstated after a Supreme Court intervention but only after providing a written apology and pledging not to take part in strikes in the future.

Strikes in India cost the government and industry millions of dollars each year.

Last May, a general strike against privatisation was estimated by trade unions to have cost the Indian economy $320m.