Stakeholders of the tourism industry in West Bengal had enough reasons to rejoice. The Kurmis, after blocking trains for five days, withdrew their rail blockade after hectic meetings with government officials. However, details of the meeting are awaited.
After blocking two major stations – Adra and Kharagpur division, several hundred trains were cancelled creating tense moments for lakhs of people who planned a break during the festive season and had booked tickets.
According to a South Eastern Railway officer, till Sunday afternoon, more than 250 express and passenger trains were cancelled. “After the strike was called off, things are normal and trains will run as per schedule,” said the official.
Following the strike, several people had already cancelled tickets while many were planning to do so. “Since we still had a week’s time for the festivities to begin, we had requested holidayers to be patient,” said Indrakshi Roy, a senior manager of a tourism agency.
After two years of bad business, courtesy the pandemic, the tourism industry was upbeat this year and expected to reap rich dividends but in such a scenario, the strike was a huge setback.
KURMIS DEMAND
The Kurmis demanded Scheduled Tribe status for the community and inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.