IANS | 06 Nov, 2018
The Tripura government's decision to cancel May 1 as a public holiday has evoked widespread condemnation in the state.
The
Centre of Indian Trade Unions' (CITU) Tripura unit said on Monday that
it will lodge a complaint with the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) for cancelling the holiday that marks International Labour Day or
"May Day".
"The first Left Front government in Tripura in 1978
announced that May 1 will be marked a paid public holiday. But the BJP
government cancelled the holiday without giving any reason," the unit's
Secretary and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Lok Sabha member
Sankar Prasad Datta told the media.
Datta said that the CITU had
lodged a complaint with the ILO for obstructing holding of programmes in
Tripura in connection with "May Day" this year.
On Saturday the
government issued the list of government holidays for 2019. According to
the notification, "May Day" will now be treated as a "restricted
holiday".
The opposition Congress has also slammed the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)-led state government's decision, saying it was
against the interest of the labour and working class people.
"'May
Day' programme is not a political affair, this is an international
event. We strongly condemn the decision," party leader Tapas Dey told
the media.
BJP affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) supported
the government decision, saying it follows the Indian culture and
civility and hence it does not follow "May Day."
