Sanitation workers’ strike sees mixed response in Ludhiana

According to traders, some shopkeepers had opened their establishments in the morning, but members of the Valmiki community and safai sewak unions later visited markets and appealed to them to support the shutdown. Protesters also marched through commercial areas, including Jawahar Nagar, Model Town, Ghumar Mandi and Feroze Gandhi Market, where several shopkeepers and office owners downed shutters

The Punjab bandh called by municipal employees’ unions and members of the Valmiki community in protest against the alleged lathi-charge on sanitation workers in Barnala received a mixed response in Ludhiana on Thursday, with several wholesale markets remaining shut while normal life continued largely unaffected across the city.

Shops shut during the bandh in Ludhiana on Thursday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Schools, colleges, offices, industrial units, restaurants and public transport services functioned normally throughout the day. However, major wholesale trading hubs, including Chaura Bazar, AC Market, Akalgarh Market and the Books Market, remained closed in support of the bandh, which concluded at 4 pm.

According to traders, some shopkeepers had opened their establishments in the morning, but members of the Valmiki community and safai sewak unions later visited markets and appealed to them to support the shutdown. Protesters also marched through commercial areas, including Jawahar Nagar, Model Town, Ghumar Mandi and Feroze Gandhi Market, where several shopkeepers and office owners downed shutters.

The Municipal Employees Association organised a march from Aarti Chowk under the leadership of its president, Rahul Dulgach. The procession passed through Ghumar Mandi and Bhai Bala Chowk before culminating at Bharat Nagar Chowk, where protesters raised slogans against the Punjab government.

Meanwhile, members of the MC Sangarsh Committee staged a separate demonstration near Clock Tower Chowk, briefly disrupting traffic before police intervened to regulate vehicular movement.

Addressing protesters, Dulgach alleged that the July 22 police lathi-charge on sanitation workers in Barnala had sparked widespread anger among sanitation workers and members of the Valmiki community across the state.

The protesters demanded registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against the DSP and SHO allegedly involved in the incident, regularisation of temporary employees and restoration of the old pension scheme.