Bank operations hit; SAIL, NMDC staff join Bharat Bandh

Banking services, especially branch operations and clearing work at public sector banks, were impacted in many parts of the country as employees joined the two-day nationwide strike to oppose the central government’s policies, including privatisation of banks. Treasury operations, however, were running smoothly, bankers said.

A joint forum of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.  Thousands of workers of state-owned SAIL, RINL and NMDC also joined the nationwide strike, affecting production at steel plants and mines.

The All India Bank Employees Association and the All India Bank Officers Association in a joint statement said they apologised to the customers for the inconvenience caused by the strike. This agitation is not for the employees’ demands, but solely to oppose the bank privatisation, they said. Acco¬rding to the associations, the privatisation will jeopardise the security of hard-earned savings of the common man.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India in a statement said It will conduct special clearing operations exclusively for government cheques across three Cheque Truncation System grids on March 31.

Apart from the ten central trade unions, the joint forum also includes independent sectoral federations and workers' associations. Electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected but unions claimed the agitation has had an impact in coal mining belts in Jhark¬hand, Chhattisgarh, and MP.

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the LDF administration to forthwith issue orders preventing its STAFF from abstaining from duty as part of the two-day strike. It said government servants should not engage in any concerted or organised slowdown of work.