The whole nation is expected to come to a standstill as major trade unions of the country call in for a strike all over the nation. The most affected sectors would be finance and transport, as the two day strike starts today.

The government has urged the banks not to go on strike on Tuesday but they will also join the strike on Feb 20,21 to protest against unemployment, rising prices of fuel and many other reasons.

PM Manmohan Singh has also called to the trade unions and explained to them through the senior government ministers that the government is working on stabilizing the prices, ensuring employment and also enforcement of  labor laws.

This strike will incur a loss of Rs 20,000 crore in the 48 hours of strike but this has not melted the hearts of the trade unions who stubbornly said that "social losses that have accumulated are so huge that we have been compelled to call the strike".

The trade unions met with labour minister Malikarjun Kharge, defence minister A K Antony and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday night but they were not satisfied with the meeting. They also said that the government wasn't serious about their strike. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the most important person to be present at the meeting decided to give it a miss.

Delhi has never taken the strikes seriously in the past, but the trade unions are standing strong on their footing saying that this two day strike is only the beginning. They threatened that if the two day strike doesn't work out solutions, they will start mass hunger strikes, sectoral strikes and mass protests to ensure that justice is served.

(AW- Anil)