Normal life was disrupted in Kerala on Monday as thousands of workers began their two-day nationwide strike against various policies of the Narendra Modi-led central government.
Banking and public transport services were thrown out of gear in Kerala and West Bengal where the Left-backed trade unions are strong.
In Kerala, markets, shops and even wayside vendors were warned against venturing out and opening their shops by the organisers of the protest. Those arriving at the railway stations also found it extremely tough to reach their destinations.
Commercial banks have also downed their shutters and most of the state government offices remained practically closed.
State-owned KSRTC public transport utility and the private buses are also not plying. Though the tourism industry was told that they would be exempted at the famed Alappuzha house boat centre, the members of the Left trade unions were seen asking the tourists on the houseboats to cooperate with the strike.
A house boat owner said: "Even though we were assured that we will be exempted but in there is no exemption as tourists just cannot reach here as they are being stopped en route and hence this exemption is meaningless."
At Pravachambalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kalady in Ernakulam, Swaraj Round in Thrissur and Kambalakkad in Wayanad protesters intercepted private vehicles. In Kozhikode, the agitators argued with an auto driver and released the air from his vehicle's tyre.
Shops were forcefully shut at Edavannappara in Malappuram. A few of the BPCL employees are protesting despite the Kerala High Court ban against the same. Employees who reached FACT in Kochi and KINFRA in Palakkad were sent back home.
Hotels and commercial establishments were opened in Palikkara, Kochi. A vehicle belonging to KITEX was stopped at Ambalamukal, Kochi while picking labourers.
Banking partially hit in country
While essential services mostly remained unaffected, banking services in different parts of the country were partially impacted and there were reports of workers staging protests at several places across states.
Electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected but unions claimed the agitation has had an impact in coal mining belts in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
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.
Their demands include the scrapping of the labour codes, no privatisation in any form, scrapping of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), increased allocation of wages under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and regularisation of contract workers.
In West Bengal, normal life was hit with protesters blocking roads and stopping movement of trains at some stations.
State road transport buses as well as auto rickshaws and private buses were off the road in Kerala but essential services, including supply of milk, hospital and ambulance services were not affected.
Public transport services were hit in Haryana as employees of state roadways joined the two-day nationwide strike.
Thousands of workers of state-owned SAIL, RINL and NMDC also joined the nationwide strike, affecting production at steel plants and mines.
Banking services were partially impacted on Monday as a section of bank employees did not report for duty. However, there was hardly any impact on the functioning of new generation private sector banks.
There might be a delay in cheque clearances and government treasury operation might also be affected by the strike.
The impact of the strike is prominent in eastern India as many branches of public sector banks there are closed, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said.
Bank unions are protesting against the government move to privatise two public sector banks as announced in Budget 2021-22. They are also demanding an increase in interest rate on deposits and reduction in service charges.
The central trade unions that are part of this joint forum are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC. The strike notices have been given by the unions in various sectors, including coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks, and insurance.
