Kochi city and the rest of Ernakulam district will observe a hartal on Monday to press the Union Government for a financial revival package for the ailing public sector fertiliser manufacturer Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT). The
call for a 24-hour work strike and 12-hour hartal in Ernakulam district, home to the FACT plants, has been given by the ‘Save FACT’ committee and is being supported by many trade unions, mainly CITU.
Shops and businesses will be closed, offices will remain shuttered and all kind of vehicles will be off the road from dawn to dusk. The hartal is to press the Government for a ₹991-crore package, as recommended by the Board of Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises some five months back.
‘Save FACT’ volunteers have been sitting in a relay hunger strike for three and a half months asking the Government to rescue the company from its current crisis.