The Catholic Church in India came out in support of some 150 million workers who walked out on strike across the country on Wednesday.
Workers across India are upset about the proposed labour policies of Narendra Modi's BJP-led Government. They say that the proposals are detrimental to the welfare of workers, said Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur, head of the Indian bishops' labour office.
"The church is in solidarity with striking workers because we are concerned about their welfare," the bishop said, adding that all Catholic forums in the country are supporting the strike.
A national network of 10 leading trade unions, including those in the banking, manufacturing, construction and coal mining sectors, organised the 24-hour strike, saying that their two rounds of talks with the Indian Government had failed to elicit a favorable response to their demands.
The strike - the biggest in India for more than two years - was mainly peaceful but nearly 200 people were arrested in West Bengal after clashes with police and protestors. Some protesters in Delhi also reportedly forced auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers off the roads and vandalised their vehicles.
The protestors demands range from an enforcement of basic labour laws and universal social security coverage for workers to measures to contain rising prices and unemployment.
Media reported that the strike hit transport and banking operations across the country and that in some parts workers blocked highways and stopped trains. Many schools and colleges as well as factories, government offices and commercial outlets remained closed.
Industry body Assocham estimated that the cost of the strike is about $3.7 billion in economic losses, singling out the country's ports where exports were stranded on the docks.
Bishop Lewis said that the Government has been following a development principle "based on private-public-partnership, which actually proved to be benefiting industrialists".
"That is what we have seen in Gujarat," said the bishop, referring to Mr Modi's tenure as chief minister of the western Indian state for some 15 years, before he became prime minister in May last year.
"We believe policy changes should be done after wider consultation with all stakeholders, including workers. But we don't see such consultation in the policy making of this government. That is a concern," Bishop Lewis said.
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