Day 2 of strike hit transport, banking services in Punjab, Haryana

Public transport and banking services continued to be affected in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh on the second day of the strike called by Central Trade Unions in support of their various demands, including steps to check price rise and enforcement of labour laws.

Majority of state owned buses plying on inter-state routes and inter-city routes in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh did not ply in the wake of strike causing inconvenience to commuters, reports from various places said.

"We are not seeing arrival of buses from Punjab and Haryana operating on inter-state routes on the second consecutive day. The buses of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking also did not ply to other states," a senior official of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking said here today.

However, he said efforts are being made to run buses within the UT Chandigarh city to minimise commuter's woes.

With public transport remaining disrupted, commuters including office goers and school children, faced difficulties in reaching their destinations. However, private bus and taxi operators continued to "exploit" hapless commuters by charging heavily from them.

With bank employees of public sector banks and old private banks observing strike, banking transactions were hit, causing inconvenience to bank customers.

Though bank officials claimed that enough cash was put in ATMs to enable customers to withdraw money for their requirements during two-day stir, protesting bank employees claimed that cash dispensing machines have started drying up at some places.

Because of banking operations remaining suspended, industry representatives claimed that the two-day strike had adversely affected the industrial activity.

Due to the strike, cheques worth several crore of rupees remained uncleared in all the public sector banks and forex transactions could not be carried out, said a bank employee.     

Meanwhile, industrial production in Punjab and Haryana remained unaffected as industrial workers joined their duties, they said.

A report from Hisar has said activists of different trade unions staged dharnas in front of their respective offices and criticised state and central government for their "indifferent" attitude towards their long standing demands.