Representative image of signboards during a strike.
Credit: iStock Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: The 24-hour general strike called by trade unions on Wednesday has turned out to be a near total shutdown in Kerala hitting normal life.
Almost all shops and commercial establishments remained closed and private and transport vehicles kept off the roads. There were isolated incidents of trade union workers forcefully closing offices and shops that opened and blocked vehicles.
Even as Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated buses in some parts in the morning, those were also stopped due to protest.
Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar had announced that KSRTC buses will operate. But leaders of the ruling CPM had opposed it.
Attendance at government offices was very thin even as dies-non was declared. Attendance at the Government Secretariat was also learnt to be around ten percent only.
Almost all schools in the state also remained closed except for Kendriya Vidyalayas which witnessed thin attendance.
Railway services remained undisrupted.
During the previous years also general strike calls by the joint action council of major trade unions had turned out to be near total shutdown in Kerala.