The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), banning strikes in government departments and state-run corporations for the next six months.
“The Uttar Pradesh Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1966, prohibits strikes by employees in a long list of essential services like railways, airport, post and telegraph, and port operations. The state government is satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest to do so,” read the official notification issued on Wednesday.
It added, “The Governor is pleased to prohibit for a period of six months strikes in any public service in connection with the affairs of the State of Uttar Pradesh and any service under a corporation owned or controlled by the state government and any service under a local authority.”
The ESMA mandates imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or fine which may extend to Rs 1,000, or with both, to any person who instigates a strike which is illegal under this Act. It also gives the police the right to arrest without a warrant anybody violating the Act’s provisions.
The UP government had last invoked ESMA in May this year. The ban on strikes will continue till May 2021.
