EOW files case against 300 brokers in NSEL case

After receiving show-cause notices from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, 300 trading members of the now defunct National Spot Exchange will face scrutiny from the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing. Sebi has filed a complaint against them with the EOW. Sources said a case had been registered against 300 NSEL trading members. RAJESH BHAYANI writes

Ten central trade unions on Friday declared a two-day nationwide strike from January 8, protesting against job losses caused by the Centre’s policies leading to an economic downturn and violations of the labour law.

The strike call was given by unions at the National Convention of Workers. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) was not a part of the union and will not participate.

“Most of the issues raised by unions from time-to-time are related to enforcement of existing labour laws. Trade unions should focus on pressurising enforcement agencies, mostly the state government, as labour is a concurrent subject, instead of diverting and politicising the issue,” said BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay. He added that the BMS will not compete with other unions in terms of calling its own strike and said it has been protesting on various forums.

The unions registered their protest against price rise, disinvestment of public sector units, job losses caused by demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), economic downturn and labour law violations, among others. The unions opposed the Centre’s move to introduce fixed-term employment for all industries and demanded scrapping of the contract worker system for work that is perennial in nature.