Protesting Chinese workers enforced a partial blackout inside the India Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo on Wednesday, in a simmering dispute over wages.
“There is a commercial dispute between the Indian and Chinese contractors,’’ said the India Pavilion director D.K. Nangia. He
confirmed that the workers forced a 30-40 minute partial power cut in the pavilion that affected the projector and a few shops on Wednesday. This was reportedly the third such incident of angry workers switching off the lights in protest since the India pavilion opened in April.
“Chinese expo officials were called in to resolve the dispute. The contractor is now willing to come to the negotiating table,’’ said Nangia. He added that the Indian contractor has paid nearly 100 per cent of the wages.
India receives nearly 30,000 visitors to the pavilion daily — and over four million since April.