A national strike in India has disrupted air, rail and banking services across the country.

This is the first national strike to take place since the Congress party won power in 2004.

Left-wing trade unions are protesting at the government's economic reforms and privatisation plans.

Are you on strike yourself? Do you agree with the reasons for the strike? What do you think the impact will be? How have you been affected by the strike?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

The strike is unnecessary and the communists are the bane of developing India Vijay, Bangalore

Air traffic in India has grown in leaps and bounds - but we don't have airports that will allow this industry to grow. What do we do to generate more jobs and better infrastructure? Privatise. This has to be the way ahead. The strike is unnecessary and the communists are the bane of developing India.
Vijay, Bangalore

The country needs change, and changes can be painful. This kind of a reckless, sudden strike does not augur well for a growing India. My classes were suspended because of this. Important events and medical emergencies suffer the most. People have a right to air their grievances. But they have no rights to disrupt the daily lives of others.
Karthik Dinakar, Bangalore

There were no auto-rickshaws running. I walked to work. My wife took the bus. The sparse traffic made it a very pleasant walk. Neither of us is on strike, but we support the cause. The privatisation of well-run government companies serves only the politicians and their cronies, with the former taking bribes to sell the companies at undervalued prices to the latter. In the long term workers rights are eroded.
A Prasad, Chennai, India

The strikes in India are successful because of the simple fact that people are afraid of the consequences if they oppose it, whether it is the one carried out by Shivsena or by leftist parties. People are held to ransom by such strikes. There can be better ways to raise the demands rather than going for strike as and when you want.
Ash, India

It is rather unfortunate that some sections of the people do not realise what is good for the country. With privatisation, accountability and service standards will improve. This will also encourage FDI and motivate more tourists to visit India, thereby creating jobs and stimulate growth. It is high time that some politicians gave up their petty ideas and think about the greater picture and general improvement of the country.
Soumitra Sen, Johannesburg, South Africa

That India is a place with rights and freedoms will make it grow slower than China, where strikes, protests and labour rights are outlawed. But it will be a healthier growth, not endangered by the revolution that will sooner or later hit China.
Jon Erland Madsen, Oslo

How can the actions of a minority hold the majority to such ransom? Dipak Patel, Jamnagar, India

This is ridiculous. How can the actions of a minority hold the majority to such ransom? The UK used to have the same disease as India known in Europe as the British disease, but now India has to move on. It's fair to say that if this continues, then we shall lose all the investment from abroad and go backwards and perhaps that's exactly where the lefties would like us to be.
Dipak Patel, Jamnagar, India

After ruining the state of West Bengal for the past 30 years in almost all development indices, it's now up to the same with the whole country while it can. I totally believe they have the capacity to undo all the gains India has made in the last decade and take it back to the days of the begging bowl. It is quite an irony how the left is still in power in spite of the pitiful condition of their electorate.
Sourav Sarkar, Bangalore, India

The age old belief of the Indians needs to be changed. Privatisation is the need of an hour. People don't digest it because they want money without working. However the decision made by the respectable government is completely acceptable for the betterment of India.
Yogesh Kulkarni, Pune, India

What will such strikes result in? Nothing, the government should be stricter, the government should deduct one day's salary from all the employees' monthly salary and the money collected should be used as an emergency fund.
Vishnu, Jalgaon ,India

The traffic was so light that for once, Bangalore seemed like the city it once was. But by the evening normal service had been resumed and city roads were back to their noisy, polluted, normal selves. My girlfriend and I both had problems getting to work because of the lack of public transport.
Ritesh Banglani, Bangalore, India

Strikes are never a solution to anything Ranjan Kumar Das, Chennai

Well isn't it very ironic that we the people elect the government and then we boycott them on their activities. Strikes are never a solution to anything, and especially for India which has seen a substantial growth in the last decade. As far as I see it, the strikes are never carried out by the people but are the handiwork of political parties.
Ranjan Kumar Das, Chennai

It is time now we start realising the impact of capitalism on society in general. In past communism and socialism has fallen because those who were in power forgot their basic principles of helping the masses. Something similar is happening in capitalism....everyone is interested in profit, at whatsoever and on whosever's expense. The governments have started behaving as multinational companies and their main aim is profit making and fulfilling interests of their executives and in the process, they have forgotten the common man. This is happening in the developed world and has started creeping into the developing world including India.
Vinay Lakra, Melbourne/ India

These strikes are disgraceful. For these lazy incompetent unions and other government workers, I suppose that it is too much to ask them to do their job. The only reason they oppose privatisation is because they realise that their cushy laziness will no longer be tolerated.
Vivek Thuppil, Philadelphia, USA

This is the most ridiculous strike in mid-week which will result in a five day holiday for many. The Left is a partner in the government it is protesting against. Family feuds are best settled inside homes and the entire nation should not be made to suffer because of internal squabbles.
Samiran Bhattacharya, Kharagpur, India

Common people want peace and progress Raj, Chennai, India

It is time we start boycotting as many government run organisations as possible. Take your business to the private sector whenever possible. It is time these communist infested unions, in so-called profit making government companies, understand that you keep your job by competing and serving the customer/taxpayer and not by holding them at ransom. Also, it is time that some exposed this lie of 'profit' making PSUs. Most of them are entities that survive on tax payers' hard earned money. To call them profit making is truly Orwellian.
Raj, Chennai, India

Yes, we are affected. My father is stuck up in Siliguri since the trains were cancelled. These kind of strikes affect the common populace more than the one who decide to announce without popular consensus about strikes. Common people want peace and progress.
Kusum, New Delhi

No effects what-so-ever in Hyd. The reports of nation coming to stand-still is overblown and sensationalized. Most airports function properly except that at Kolkata. The communists are loosing out in India against the generally evolving consensus for liberalization. And these are their desperate tricks to bring themselves back in news.
Kundan, Hyderabad, India

This is the only way the leftist party supporting the ruling coalition can stamp their authority. If they become obedient partners, the ruling party will be a run-away hit and will be elected with clear majority during the next elections, thus eliminating the need of its coalition parties. This would threaten their very survival in the next elections. The people on strike are those whiners and losers who are scared that the competitive nature of the reforms will make them lose their positions that they have been holding for so long. Dr Singh quoted - "Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come." I can realize how let down he may be feeling now.
Pankaj Patel, Javeri Farm, India

As an Indian citizen I feel very ashamed of these strikes. These government employees who are taking part in the strikes in India fear that privatisation might force them to work their entire days shift and might prevent corruption which sadly is practiced in almost all the government offices in India. A true Indian should be prepared for changes that help increase the country's economy.
Rajiv Mulam, Sheffield, England

I spend first 30 years of my life in different parts of West Bengal. General strike is only CPM's show of their muscle power, it happens almost four times a year, and apparently without a cause. Hardly 10% of West Bengal's population do understand the reason for strike. Only the work-shy Babus get its benefits. This is one of reasons I first moved to Chennai first and then USA. Life is good without a general strike. But there is one good thing about strike though, air pollution is very low (you an see clear sky, air smells good) on that day.
Nirupam Sarkar, Dayton, USA ex-pat India

This is as frustrating as it gets. Here you are working to build the image of the country in the eyes of the rest of the world and then there is this news splashed across the newspapers throughout the world. What message does this sends out to the rest of the world? Not to mention the financial damage this strike is going to do. So, to bring the poor of the country at par with others, you pull the whole country a step back?! There has to be a better way.
Ritesh, NJ, US

It is the Hindu Nationalist BJP, that is instigating the Communists to go on strikes like this to meet their political ends C Sachidananda Narayanan, Tirunelveli, India

India cannot afford such nationwide strikes. Its developments would be severely affected. The communist parties of India are opportunists. They swing left and right as the tide surges in the national politics. In Kerala, they oppose the Congress Party and in nearby Tamil Nadu, they are strange bedfellows to the same Congress in elections. But, it is the Hindu Nationalist BJP, that is instigating the Communists to go on strikes like this to meet their political ends.
C Sachidananda Narayanan, Tirunelveli, India

Anybody who has travelled on Air India would know that the staff onboard is incompetent and the service poor. These people are striking because they fear that if services are privatised then there will no longer space for callousness and incompetence. The Indian government should not let these people destroy the process of reforms which is the only way to greater welfare for all.
Sandeep Jain, London

The strike is mostly effective in states where the communists are powerful like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Poor Buddhadeb in West Bengal will have a nice time explaining this to the investors he seeks to bring to West Bengal. The communist want to make the rest of India like the industrial wasteland West Bengal has become. The airports will be privatized because the government does not have the money to pay for them. Already most people are shunning public sector banks and these strikes will only make use private banks more.
Prasad, Delhi

With privatization and open market mentality, many people in India will slip under the cracks. I don't think this direction toward "globalization" will prove positive for India's people. Rather supporting people from the most fundamental level (health, wellbeing, and equity) will allow people to acquire more advanced skills and contribute to expanding infrastructure within the country. This support must be garnered by people fighting for their wellbeing through a change in legislation.
Agnieszka Pate, San Francisco, USA

Strikes like these set India back even further Tej, MN, USA

Strikes like these set India back even further. Why would any company want to invest (and create jobs) money in India when they can go to a market friendly country. How many jobs have the communists created? Now I know why we are the third world because we cannot get past our thinking.
Tej, MN, USA

These Marxist unions never participated constructively in India's development. They are responsible for destroying the good work ethics. In the initial three decades after independence, Communists held some influence on the then Congress Party, which had close relations with the erstwhile Soviet Empire. With privatization, they are afraid of becoming extinct.
Shyam, Reston, USA

In Bangalore, the strike was hardly noticed. It was actually a blessing in disguise. With Auto-rickshaw's being out, the traffic was light. My friends were able to reach places in 15 minutes, which normally took 1 hour or so. I wish we could have more days like today. Maybe Bangalore should follow Mexico City and ban some automobiles once a week.
Riaz Amin, Bangalore, India

I have been brought up in Kolkata and have seen how these strikes impact the productivity of the country. If these strikes had to do any good, they would have done long back. It's high time for Indians to understand that to be a global power we need to be aggressive in many aspects including privatisation in many sectors.
Ruchi Singh, Minneapolis, USA

One of the most important things, which should be done, is depoliticize the trade unions. This will disable the big political parties eg Communists, Congress, BJP, etc from controlling a nationwide or region wide workforce. Trade unions should be accountable to a particular institution, which they are employed by eg Airport, Banks etc. Today the Trade Unions control too much power and are criminalized to some extent, by the present political culture. Common workers do not benefit from the Trade Unions. Striking for the workers rights should be a privilege of any working class in any democratic country. But that does not mean abuse of that privilege and harass common people for nothing. Maybe then we can see some accountability on both sides of the table.
Neil Banerjee, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Strikes in India by leftists seems to be an outdated call by the older generation who want India to be economically stagnant, while millions continue to live in poverty. I think it's time for the left in India to give way to the younger generation and introspect their objectives. Maybe it's time to completely overhaul government institutions and accelerate economic reforms.
Navaraj Anandan, Chicago, US

I've been to India several times, and one thing that was clear was that there are no "well-run government companies." I would agree, however, that it is important that these industries are not undervalued when sold into the private sector. When will people learn from experience and realize that large, centrally-planned government initiatives almost always fail when compared to their private counterparts?
Ross, Houston

Maybe it's time for the government to listen to its own people to ensure their welfare Adam Smith, Boyertown USA

With such a heavily populated country the government really needs to step up to support its people. Just by looking at many pictures I am stunned at how many people suffer from poor living conditions and starvation. Maybe it's time for the government to listen to its own people to ensure their welfare.
Adam Smith, Boyertown USA

The unions and their time-warp Marxist chums have contributed zero to India's development. Capitalism isn't perfect, but better to have India develop into the US than develop into North Korea!
Anand, Colombo, Sri Lanka

I work for multi-national company. I do not take public transport for going to office, my company's cab picks me up. So I was not affected by the nationwide strike. I did not go to any government institution to see the impact of the strike.
Abhilash Nair, Bangalore, India

This country will never make progress unless the labour laws and judiciary system are completely overhauled. Since this is not possible, there is no point in arguing about it. This was possible in 1947 when India had gained independence. Now it is impossible
Gurdas Thadani, New Delhi India

For the first time in my years at IIT Kharagpur, I really got affected by this left-wing strike. They blocked the main gate of the institute and all lectures got cancelled.
Ravi Singh, Kharagpur

It's quite obvious that India's airports needs major restructuring; they are bursting at the seams and the service levels just don't measure up to any standards, let alone international ones. Privatisation of these airports will generate thousands of new jobs because of the expansion that is going to take place. So I don't know what these frog in the well Communists are complaining about. Maybe they should be sent to China to get some lessons from their Communist brethren across the mountains.
T. Varadaraj, Bangalore, India

I don't understand the necessity of these strikes and the mindset of the communists. For India to emerge as a global power, we need foreign investments to pour in and the privatisation of state owned firms.
Shreyas, Bristol, UK

This government was elected as they promised a pro-poor welfare agenda. Instead they are systematically dismantling the public sector. Millions are jobless. Beneath the glitz of Bangalore and Gurgaon upmarket areas lies the hungry millions. What can these poor people do but strike?
G Chatterjee, Calcutta, India

These strikes are reflective of the fear in most government employees minds of the changes that will follow privatisation. There is a need to introspect and understand how best these changes can be used to benefit us today and in the future. I hope everyone stops wasting precious time and start building a bigger and better future for themselves and consequently, the nation.
A Singh, Nasik, India

The communists used their 25 years of rule to bring down Bengal from the leading state in the country to one of the most backward. With now more power in national politics it will do something similar. It is strange they always fight for wrong rights and never ever demonstrated a good working culture. They lack the balance and should learn lessons from China.
San, London, UK

Time to go the polls so the Congress can rid itself of Commie parasites. The left and its fellow travellers have held this country back for long enough. If the Congress went to the polls with a strong reform message it would walk away with a clear mandate since the left is clearly clueless and the God Squad (BJP) is squabbling.
Bharat Kewalramani, Mumbai India

It's one thing to strike, it's quite another to bring the country to a standstill. This strike is incredibly selfish, because it is preventing people from using buses, taxis and other forms of public transport. What happens to people who suddenly fall ill and need to go urgently to hospital? They can't. All because unions want to protect their outdated privileges and maintain inefficiencies. If India is to compete with China as an economic powerhouse, it must take on and overcome these unions.
Tom, Calcutta, India

I woke up this morning expecting to have my breakfast at 9.00 am at a restaurant that I visit everyday. It was closed. I came to know that all shops were run by the people who are strongly affiliated to Communist Party agenda. This is not surprising considering that I live in an industrial zone (which is always a hub of activity for Communists worker unions). Anticipating trouble, some IT companies in Bangalore are also not functioning today. Roads are also quite empty with private transport services off the road.
Sunil Dhummi, Bangalore, India

I feel this strike was totally unnecessary since the privatisation of airports will take place any way. These are the vestiges of the labour problems that India is trying to shake off. Any concerns for job security should be addressed by proper negotiations instead.
Abhik, Calicut, India

There were no auto rickshaws running. I walked to work. My wife took the bus. The sparse traffic made it a very pleasant walk. Neither of us is on strike, but we support the cause. The privatisation of well-run government companies serves only the politicians and their cronies, with the former taking bribes to sell the companies at undervalued prices to the latter. In the long term workers rights are eroded.
A Prasad, Chennai, India