LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In New Delhi, the nation's capitol, and in the financial hub, Mumbai, the effect of the strike was minimal. Banks and insurance offices were closed but buses and taxis worked the streets and shops were open for business.

"In states like Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where the communist parties have presence, local agitators have blocked roads and rails and commuters are having harrowing times," Al Jazeera correspondent Prerna Suri reported.

Most bank branches, shops and other businesses were closed in the eastern city of Kolkata, long a traditional trade union stronghold. Taxis and rickshaws stayed off the streets.

Members of left-wing parties in the southern city of Hyderabad have clashed with police during street protests.

Transport, banking and postal services were all affected by the strike that began midnight on Monday with port operations also shut down.

The demonstrations are the latest test for Manmohan Singh's government, which has been shaken by a succession of corruption scandals and popular protests since the prime minister's Congress party won a second term in 2009.

The government's appeal failed to placate the unions, who want the government to take measures to contain inflation, provide universal social security cover for workers in the vast unorganized labor sector and permanent jobs for 50 million contract laborers.

"We will have to think about our future course of action if the government does not come forward with proposals on how it will react to our demands," G Sanjeeva Reddy, president of INTUC told reporters.

The country's labor minister said the government was ready for talks on any labor-related issues last week. But AITUC leader Gurudas Dasgupta rejected the offer saying, "The government had enough opportunity earlier to sit with unions to discuss the issues.

"We are fighting for our rights against a government that is anti-people," he added.

© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.