The numbers of gheraos continued to increase, reaching 194 in September. The High Court intervened again, ordering the police force to ignore the circular of the state government in case of gheraos and act in accordance with the law. As a result of the gheraos, many industrial units were closed down. The Bangla Congress came under pressure from industry owners to stop the gheraos.
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The shopkeepers would resort to fasts, protest demonstrations and gheraos.
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To add variety, new forms of coercion, like gheraos, were invented.
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Of course, this is followed by walkouts from the Assembly, dharnas, gheraos, bandhs and other forms of agitation.
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In the programme of the United Front, it had promised to reorganize the police force not to interfere in democratic movements. A fundamental aspect of this was barring the police from taking actions in labour disputes. After assuming office, the United Front government issued a circular to the police, stating that police would not be able to interfere in gheraos (besieging blockades) unless having the permission of the Minister of Labour. Essentially, this resulted in a sharp rise in gheraos in connection to labour disputes (In May 1967 there were 151 gheraos in West Bengal, compared to 32 in March).
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Ghosh was named Minister for Labour in the second United Front government of West Bengal, formed in 1969. As Labour Minister, Ghosh sought to support labour in its confrontation with corporate interests. With the CPI(M) in charge of both the Home and Labour departments, the police were instructed not to intervene against striking workers. Gheraos were effectively legalized.
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With the CPI(M) in charge of the Home and Labour departments, police was instructed not to intervene against striking workers. Gheraos were effectively legalised. Salaries of workers increased as a result. In the first six months of the second United Front government there were 551 strikes and 73 lock-outs across the state, affecting some 570,000 workers.
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The labour department headed by Krishnapada Ghosh of the CPIM is also noted to have coordinated with the department of general administration to enable the registration of new trade unions and legalisation of gheraos (trans: picketing) as a method of protest. The labour militancy combined with the state policy of non intervention drove an exponential rise in daily wages ranging between a 100–200% increase in the unorganised sector and 100–300% increase in the organised sector. Previously in light of the appalling conditions of agrarian poverty and rural discontent, a radical section of the CPI-M had also split due to the party's involvement in parliamentary politics and subsequently launched a peasant's uprising.
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Gherao, meaning "encirclement", is a word which denotes a tactic used by labour activists and union leaders in India; it is similar to picketing. Usually, a group of people would surround a politician or a government building until their demands are met, or answers given. This principle was introduced as a formal means of protest in the labour sector by Subodh Banerjee, the PWD and Labor Minister in the 1967 and 1969 United Front Governments of West Bengal, respectively. Owing to its popularity, the word “gherao” was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2004. Page 598 has the entry: “Gherao: n (pl. gheraos). Indian; a protest in which workers prevent employers leaving a place of work until demands are met; Origin: From Hindi” and Subodh Banerjee was referred to as the Gherao minister.
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