The Kerala government on Monday issued a dies-non against its employees who are participating in a two-day nationwide strike. The Left government was forced to issued the order following a Kerala high court order which, earlier in the day, had slammed government employees for taking part in the strike.

As per the dies-non order, all government employees should attend their duties on Tuesday. “Unauthorised absence of employees participating in the strike will be treated as dies-non under Rule 14 A of Part I, Kerala Service Rules. The pay for the days in which the strike is taking place will be withheld from the salary for the month of April 2022,” according to the order issued by Chief Secretary V P Joy.

No leave of any kind of shall be granted to government employees and teachers etc for the strike days except for some emergencies.

The order also states that the KSRTC's managing director and district collectors should ensure that sufficient vehicles are operated to enable the government servants to attend duty.

District collectors, heads of departments and district police chiefs should take action to give protection to those not participating in the strike. They should also ensure unhindered access to government offices and avoid over-crowding in front of the gates of the offices.

Shops to open

The traders in Kerala have decided to stay away from the ongoing nationwide strike which started on Monday.

The Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, a traders' collective, said it will open all shops in the state on Tuesday, the second day of the strike. Samithi's state president P Kunjavu Haji announced the decision.

The Kozhikode district collector on Monday ordered that all fuel pumps in the district should function on Tuesday. The collector also asked the police to ensure security to the pumps.

Meanwhile, cinema theatres which remained closed throughout the day resumed operation at night.

HC slams govt staff

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court had earlier in the day directed the state government to issue orders to prevent government employees from going on strike. The Bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chali passed the interim directive on a public interest litigation filed by Chandrachoodan Nair S, a retired government employee from Thiruvananthapuram, seeking compulsory attendance of government staff at their offices during the ongoing general strike.

Left Democratic Front convener A Vijayaraghavan had come out against the court order. 

Starting from midnight Monday the 48 hour protest has brought practically all activities in the state to a grinding halt.

At several places angry protesters turned their ire towards people moving on two wheelers and in private cars. The police remained mere spectators and when TV channels asked the police officials why they were not acting against the protesters, they quickly moved out of the camera frame.

The worst hit has been the tourism industry, which was told they were exempted, but the striking protesters decided otherwise. At the famed Alappuzha destination, those who had pre-booked their houseboat travel were not allowed to go.

The two-day nationwide strike called by various trade unions, except the BJP-backed BMS, on Monday had received support from Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and BPCL.