INDIA was brought to a standstill today as around 250 million workers took part in what many are describing as the largest strike in world history.

The strike, dubbed Bharat Bandh — Hindi for “shut down India,” was called by a coalition of 10 major trade unions in opposition to far-right Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to privatise state-run companies and other economic reforms.

The unions say that coal mining operations were halted in several states while many trains came to a grinding halt as protesters blocked the network, and that banks, insurance companies and supermarkets were closed.

Journalists in the eastern city of Kolkata reported protestors walking in a rally at a local railway station, some shouting slogans against the government and burning an effigy of Mr Modi. 

Another, in the financial capital Mumbai, witnessed bank employees shouting slogans against the privatisation of state-run banks.

The Press Trust of India reported traffic in eastern India’s Odisha state was brought to a standstill, while in the southern state of Kerala, shops, offices and schools remained closed, with roads deserted as workers stayed home.

The government hasn’t formally commented on the workers’ strike. 

The workers’ demands include higher wages, halting privatisation of state-run companies, withdrawal of new labour laws and filling vacancies in the government sector. 

The farmers’ groups also want the government to increase the minimum purchase price for crops such as wheat and rice.

The coalition led by Mr Modi’s far-right Bharatiya Janata Party has also unveiled new labour laws that they say promise higher statutory minimum wages, social security and healthcare.

But Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, said: “The government intends to suppress workers in the name of ease of doing business through labour reforms.” 

Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, which is aligned with a communist party, said: “Coal mining operations in most states have come to a halt. Services in banking, insurance, manufacturing and petroleum refineries are impacted too.”

A. Soundararajan, a trade union leader in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, said the police detained around 30,000 protesting workers today. 

The Britain-based Indian Workers Association (IWA) hailed the strike as “one of the largest displays of collective power in India’s labour history.”

The IWA said: “We commend the unity of workers across sectors and farmers in India, and salute their courage in resisting the neoliberal assault on India’s working class. 

“Their struggle is an inspiration to working people everywhere.”