No newspapers in Guwahati as hawkers' continue strike

The residents of Guwahati have not received their daily morning newspaper since Sunday following a strike called by Hawkers Association, which has extended its
agitation till February 23.
The members of the Association also clashed with the employees of shops selling newspapers in the city today with cases filed against them in seven police stations, police sources said.
The hawkers led by their president Kamaluddin Ahmed and general secretary Dilip Barman gheraoed the Agents Association
president Paban Saikia and attempted to vandalise his office, the sources said.
Both Ahmed and Barman were arrested and released later, they said.

The Hawkers Association today decided to extend their strike by three more days as the newspaper publishers failed to respond to their proposal for directly giving their newspapers to the hawkers for distribution bypassing the newspaper agents.

The hawkers have a five-point demand, including raising of their commission to 35 per cent of the cost of newspapers and medical benefits for the old and sick hawkers.
Meanwhile, Paban Saikia claimed that the strike was uncalled for as the issue of their demands was in the state's Labour Commission office.
According to a report of the office of the Labour Commissioner here to the state Government, the ongoing process of negotiation between the newspaper agents and newspaper hawkers since February 2 has failed even as the hawkers strike was on.