Customs office in workers’ stir grip
Biratnagar/Itahari, January 5:
The jute mill workers, who have been staging an agitation putting forth their three-point demands for the past nine days, have taken Biratnagar Customs Office under their control. Their joint struggle committee said the workers had put a banner in the customs office premises.
“Only pedestrians have been allowed to move in and out of the customs point,” committee president Ganesh Adhikari said. According to customs office chief Mitral Lal Regmi, daily tax collection from the office was completely disrupted today and hundreds of lorries loaded with raw materials for Sunsari-Morang Corridor have been garaged in India’s Bathanaha.
The customs office had been collecting Rs 20 million as tax every day. The mill workers have been demanding implementation of the minimum wage of Rs 190 fixed by the government, ending load shedding in the corridor and cancellation of the December 8 gazette regarding wage for the jute mill workers.
Passengers suffered as the agitators organised sit-in at major points such as Hatkhola and Rani of Biratnagar obstructing traffic. The workers also closed two dozen factories today in Morang’s Katahari. Their rally went through different thoroughfares in the sub-metropolis.
Similarly, the mill workers demonstrated in Sunsari’s Duhabi and Sonapur areas. Nepal Trade Union Congress Morang president Gopal Sharma demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry as they had failed to fulfill their demands. The peaceful agitation might take a violent turn if our demands went unheard, he warned.
The agitators also obstructed vehicular movement in the two districts. Saying that the government had not addressed their demands, the workers have announced their indefinite transport strike beginning Sunday in the districts.
The workers have shut down nine jute factories in Sunsari and Morang for the last nine days. Following the closure, millions of rupees has been lost daily causing 20,000 workers’ families to suffer. Meanwhile, Biratnagar Business Organisation has submitted a memorandum to District Administration Office Morang to protest the donation drive, bazaar bandh and vandalism by the workers.