Activists of Left trade unions take out a march in support of the two-day Bharat Bandh called to protest against the Centre's policies that are allegedly affecting farmers and workers, in Thiruvananthapuram, Monday, March 28, 2022. (PTI Photo)Bharat Bandh highlights: Government offices in Kerala reported thin attendance Tuesday, despite a government order issued Monday stating that the unauthorised absence of employees participating in the strike would be treated as ‘dies non’ following an intervention by the Kerala High Court. Less than 200 employees turned up for duty at the state secretariat. In many other government offices, agitating employees, belonging to both the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, allegedly prevented others from appearing for duty. Meanwhile, shops and establishments continued to remain closed in most parts of the state, with agitators allegedly stopping trucks and even private vehicles.
On the second day of the nationwide strike called by trade unions, public transport and banking services remained partly disrupted in some states. In a statement, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the joint forum of central trade unions, has said that along with independent sectoral federations and associations, they will stage a ‘dharna’ at Jantar Mantar from 11.30 am onwards.
The trade unions are protesting against the Central government’s policies affecting workers, farmers, and people in general. The decision comes following a meeting on March 22 where the trade unions said that they would protest against the Centre’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies”. The bank unions are participating to protest against the government’s plan to privatise public sector banks, as well as the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021.
Most shops in Kochi remained shut owing to the Bharat Bandh. (Express Photo)
Public transport services were impacted at many places in Haryana on Tuesday as the state roadways employees came in support of the two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions in protest against the Union government's policies affecting workers of various sectors.
Bus services remained suspended at several depots as Haryana Roadways employees continued their protests for the second day of the strike, causing inconveniences to commuters.
"The bus services are suspended and we are observing a complete strike," Sarbat Singh Punia, a leader of the joint front of 10 unions of roadways employees, told PTI on Tuesday. Punia, who joined the protest at Sirsa depot, said the normal services will resume from Wednesday morning.
CPI, trade unions, and other organisations held protests in Telangana on Tuesday as part of the two-day nationwide strike against the NDA government's alleged anti-people policies.
AITUC organised the demonstration at Malakpet here, demanding withdrawal of four labour codes and setting up a welfare board for workers in the unorganised sector.
CPI State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, who attended the rally, hit out at the NDA government over its alleged anti-people and anti-workers' policies. The wealth created in the country is being "sold" to big corporates and industrialists in the name of National Monetization Pipeline, he alleged.
CITU and various other people's organisations burnt an "effigy of the Central government" at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in the city. CITU's Telangana State Committee claimed that the strike was successful on the second day as well with workers and others holding protests at the offices of district Collectors. (PTI)
The CPI(M) on Tuesday said that people have responded favourably in West Bengal to the two-day strike call given by the joint forum of central trade unions.
CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary Mohd Salim said the country's economy is being affected by the Centre's policies, leading to a price rise of essentials, while avenues of income for people are shrinking.
"With day-to-day livelihood getting affected, people have responded favourably to the strike call in the state," he told reporters. (PTI)
Bus services of state-run transport corporations resumed on Tuesday in Tamil Nadu in a relief to passengers on the second day of the nation-wide strike. Buses, both local and long distance services of government-run corporations resumed while private players continued to operate services as usual.
On March 28, the first day of the two-day nationwide strike by central trade unions, buses run by state run transport corporations remained off the roads in most parts of Tamil Nadu hitting normalcy. (PTI)
Activists of various trade unions stage a protest in Gurgaon on Tuesday in support of the two-day nationwide strike against the Central Government over its policies allegedly affecting farmers and workers.
The second day of the two-day national strike in Kerala was near total on Tuesday as the 'dies non' (no work, no pay) issued by the Left government was not effective. Most of the employees refused to turn up for work and the streets were deserted with the buses, autorickshaws, taxis and even private vehicles keeping off the roads.
Less than five per cent of the government employees marked their attendance despite the State government issuing the dies non on Monday after a High Court directive. Minor scuffles were reported from various parts of the State as some people tried to open shops. (PTI)
Activists of various Left trade unions block the Dak Bunglow Road in Patna in support of the two-day 'Bharat Bandh' called to protest against the Centre's policies on Tuesday.
Banking services continued to remain affected for the second day on Tuesday as part of the two-day strike call given by various central trade unions.
Operations in public and private sector banks were affected in Tamil Nadu, according to All India Bank Employees Association, and it stated that nearly Rs 5,000 crore worth of cheques could not be transacted.
"Due to the strike, normal banking services were affected. Clearing operations were also affected because branches could not send the cheques for clearance. In the southern grid functioning in Chennai, during our strike, about six lakh cheques worth Rs 5,000 crore could not be sent for clearance due to strike", AIBEA general secretary C H Venkatachalam said.
The AIBEA announced the strike pressing for various demands including strengthening public sector banks, privatisation of nationalised banks, regularising contract employees and banking correspondents among others. (PTI)
Shops remained closed in Puducherry in view of the two-day Bharat Bandh organised by central trade unions. However, government offices functioned as usual and government buses were operational.
Although the court said trade union activities, pertaining to statutory provisions under the Trade Unions Act, cannot be allowed to impede governance, leaders of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala came out against the high court directive. Party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan compared the court’s attitude to saying “shut your mouth and do your job”. “Employees should be ready to strike, abandoning their salary for two days. The court intervention is a challenge to the democratic system. However, the strike is not sponsored by the government,’’ he said.
CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan said a ghost of the British era has caught hold of the judiciary. “What has come through the words of the court is the voice of the Emergency era,” he added.
Meanwhile, even as CPI(M) leaders allegedly prevented the movement of people and forced closure of offices in several places, they ensured that works related to the Party Congress, slated for next month, continued in Kannur. “Only minor works are underway. Most of the work is over. Only some finishing work of the venue is going on,” Jayarajan said. Read more
Government offices in Kerala reported low attendance on Tuesday, the second day of the 48-hour nationwide general strike called by various non-BJP trade unions, despite a state government order which said the absence of employees participating in the strike would be treated as dies non.
Normal life and businesses across the state were hit for the second consecutive day as protesters prevented bus services from running and forced shops to down shutters.
At the state secretariat, less than 200 employees turned up for duty against a staff strength of 4,800. In many other government offices, agitating employees, belonging to both the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, allegedly prevented others from appearing for duty.
Shops and establishments continued to remain closed in most parts of the state, with agitators allegedly stopping trucks and even private vehicles. The state transport corporation could only operate a few services on the second day of the strike. Read more
Contractual employees of Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant in Punjab's Bhatinda raised slogans against government policies as part of the two-day nationwide strike. Farmers' unions have also joined the Bharat bandh.
An all-India strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions on March 28 and 29, and backed by banking unions, did not have as much impact as expected in West Bengal as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government stuck to its stand of not backing strikes and thwarting attempts to impose one.
To prevent the bandh from succeeding, the Mamata Banerjee-led government on March 26 issued an order announcing that all state government offices would remain open and employees would have to report for duty during the days of the strike. The order added that the leaves would be treated as “dies non (not counted)” and “no salary will be admissible”.
With the courts often criticising the disruptions caused by strikes, the TMC took an anti-strike position after coming to power, thus depriving the Opposition of a potent weapon with which to corner the government. Read more
About 35,000 workers of state-owned SAIL, RINL and NMDC continued to boycott work on Tuesday as part the nationwide strike, affecting production at steel plants and mines.
Rajesh Sandhu, Secretary of NMDC Sanyukt Khadaan Mazdoor Sangh said all non-executive workers have boycotted work to join the nationwide strike which entered its second day on Tuesday. "Intensifying their protest against government polices, NMDC workers stopped state transport buses in Chhattisgarh for about 6 hours from 5 a.m," Sandhu said adding NMDC would incur a loss of about Rs 200 crore due to the protest.
Over 10,000 non-executive employees of the company are observing the protest at NMDC mines and offices in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.
J Ayodhya Ram, President of Steel Plant Employees Union (CITU) said workers at RINL plant in Visakhapatnam did not come to work on Tuesday as well. Around 8,000 non-executive Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) workers out of 11,000 are taking part in the ongoing nationwide strike called by central trade unions. He further said production has been affected at the unit as only one furnace out of three is functional at the plant in Visakhapatnam. One was already under maintenance, the second one has been shut down as a precautionary measure.
Around 15,000 workers of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) also remained away from work at its plants in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal, an employee of SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant said. The workers working at key functional areas of the plants did not come on Tuesday to work, he said. (PTI)
Normal life was affected in Puducherry on the second day of Bharath Bandh organised by central trade unions.
Shops and establishments remained closed, cinema halls downed shutters, privately-operated bus services were off the roads causing disruption in transport services. Hotels also remained closed during the bandh organised by trade unions to protest against the "anti-people, anti-worker, anti-farmer" polices of the Centre.
Police were deployed in strength at all major places in the Union Territory. Government-operated bus services functioned normally as office attendance was normal. The Rajiv Gandhi Municipal bus terminal, however, in neighbouring Orleanpet presented a forlorn look as the private fleet operators kept the vehicles off the roads.
Most schools declared a holiday but those institutions conducting revision exams, however, functioned normally.
Two-wheelers zoomed in and around Puducherry. Fish markets, vegetable stalls and tea shops remained closed.
Banking services were partially hit by the strike and branches of some banks were functioning with less turnout of customers. Delegates of different political parties and trade union outfits held demonstrations at various points. (PTI)
Public dealings at some public sector bank branches were hit in Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday as the nationwide strike enters its second day.
Bank unions are protesting against the Centre's move to privatise two public sector banks as announced in the Budget. They are also demanding an increase in the interest rate on deposits and a reduction in service charges.
At some places in Haryana and Punjab, the employees and workers of various departments, who were participating in the strike, staged the protest. (PTI)
Public transport services were affected in Haryana for the second day on Tuesday, as roadways employees came in support of the nationwide strike called by central trade unions to protest against the Centre's alleged wrong policies.
The bus services remained suspended at several depots of Haryana Roadways. Roadways employees held protests for the second day at many depots in the state as part of the strike.
Sarbat Singh Punia, a leader of the joint front of 10 unions of roadways employees, told PTI on Tuesday that "the bus services are suspended and we are observing a complete strike". Punia, who joined a protest of the roadways employees at Sirsa depot, said the normal services will resume from Wednesday morning. He said that employees and workers of some other departments, including public sector banks and municipal bodies, also joined the nationwide strike for the second day.
Commuters, meanwhile, continued to face inconvenience as public transport services remained affected in Haryana. Public transport buses were plying normally in neighbouring Punjab, officials said. (PTI)
The issue of the nationwide strike called by trade unions and their 12-point charter of demands was raised in Parliament Tuesday by Opposition members.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu disallowed adjournment notices moved by Left and Congress members over the issue, saying the MPs can raise it during discussions in the House.
Banking services were impacted partially for the second day on Tuesday, as a section of bank employees came in support of the nationwide strike called by central trade unions. Transactions at many public sector banks were impacted as employees did not report for duty. Besides, there were delays in cheque clearances and government treasury operations were also affected due to the strike.
"As per our reports, in the Southern Grid functioning in Chennai, during our strike yesterday and today, about 6 lakh cheques/instruments worth about Rs 5,000 crore could not be sent for clearance as branches did not function due to the strike," All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary CH Venkatachalam said.
At the national level, about 20 lakh cheques worth about Rs 18,000 crore could not be cleared, he claimed. (PTI)
In a statement, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the joint forum of central trade unions, has said that along with independent sectoral federations and associations, they will stage a ‘dharna’ at Jantar Mantar from 11.30 am onwards, news agency PTI reported.
Various trade unions, including the DMK-led Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), participated in the nationwide strike against government policies for the second day.
As part of the two-day nationwide bandh called by trade unions, shops remained closed in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and other Left organisations held protests in Karnataka's Kalaburagi against government policies as part of the two-day Bharat Bandh call by trade unions.
The nationwide Bharat Bandh announced by a joint forum of trade unions hit public transport services across Tamil Nadu on Monday, with only 33 per cent of buses run by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) operating across the state on Monday morning, officials with the transport body said.
Many commuters, including students, office-goers, mothers with young babies and senior citizens, were left stranded at various bus stands since early morning on Monday. The two-day strike has been called against the central government’s policies that have affected workers, farmers and the general public. Read more
Public dealings at some bank branches were hit and public transport services were thrown out of gear in a few states, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as thousands of workers on Monday began a two-day nationwide strike to protest against policies of the Union government.
Workers staged protests at several places, and unions claimed the agitation has had an impact in coal mining belts in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
However, essential services like healthcare, electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected and public offices as well as educational institutions were not impacted by the strike, which was called by nearly a dozen trade unions, news agency PTI reported. Read more
Hours after a division bench of Kerala High Court directed the state government to issue orders forthwith to prevent government servants from engaging in the 48-hour general strike, the government declared that unauthorised absence of employees participating in the strike would be treated as ‘dies non'.
The order comes as a setback to the trade unions affiliated to the ruling CPI(M) as well as Opposition Congress, which have actively taken part in the first day of the general strike called against the policies of the Centre. Offices across Kerala reported only thin attendance on Monday and all educational institutions remained closed. (ENS)
The joint forum of central trade unions on Monday said that bandh-like situation prevailed in at least eight states due to the nationwide strike against various policies of the government. The two-day strike began on Monday. "There is a bandh-like situation in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Haryana and Jharkhand," the forum said in a statement. According to the forum, agitations were held in many industrial areas across states like Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. --PTI
Kerala High Court directs the state government to issue an order restricting the state government employees from participating in the two-day nationwide strike/Bharat Bandh. Court also observes that it is illegal that state government employees are participating in the strike.
Several independent sectoral federations and bank associations have also joined the two-day Bharat Bandh. “Our united struggle is not only to save the rights and lives/livelihood of people but also save the country’s economy and the entire democratic system and the society as a whole from disaster and destruction being engineered by the authoritarian forces in governance with the active support of private corporates, both domestic and foreign, and decisively defeat the disastrous policy regime and their political operators in governance,” the trade unions had said while announcing the strike in December.
Essential services, including transport and banking, were crippled in several states as the two-day Bharat Bandh announced by several central trade unions belonging to all political hues barring the RSS-affiliated BMS began Monday. This is the second such nationwide shutdown called by the trade unions after the Narendra Modi government returned to power at the Centre in 2019.
The strike by central trade unions comes at a time when the economy is slowly recovering from the impact of the lockdowns imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Interestingly, the strike call was given in consultation with the leadership of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which spearheaded the agitation against the three central farm laws. Ever since the farmers’ agitation, at least the Left parties had been talking about a growing synergy between farmers and the working class. The trade unions have put forward a 12-point charter of demands. Apart from this, the trade unions—including Congress's INTUC, CPM's CITU, CPI's AITUC and others like HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, and UTUC—are also demanding that the government accept the six-point charter of demands put forward by the SKM after the repeal of the three farm laws.
In Panchkula, members of the Haryana Roadway Union were protesting outside the ISBT during two-day strike called on Monday. Cops have been stationed at the bus terminus to avoid any untoward incident.
Public transportation services took a hit in several areas of Tamil Nadu on Monday owing to the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions. Students, office-goers and the general public were left stranded at bus stands since early morning. According to the latest data, only 33 per cent of government buses were operating in Tamil Nadu. In Chennai, around 10 per cent of buses were running since morning. Of the 3,175 buses in Chennai, which are maintained by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, only 318 were running.
The All India Bank Employees Association’s two-day nationwide strike has evoked a good response in Delhi. The bank unions are participating to protest against the government’s plan to privatise public sector banks, as well as the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021.
Supporters of the two-day nationwide strike on Monday put up rail and road blockades in various areas in West Bengal to impose the bandh. Functionaries of the Left parties were seen blocking railway tracks in Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Shyamnagar, Belgharia, Joynagar, Domjur and other places to protest against the Centre's policies. Road blockades were put up in Golpark, Lake Town, Baguihati and other areas of Kolkata. A scuffle also broke out between the supporters and the police in Jadavpur. Another rally was taken out by SUCI (C) from Rashbehari to Bhowanipore and then to Lake Market.
Such road and rail blockades were also seen in the districts of West Midnapore, West Burdwan, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Hooghly, North 24 Paragans, South 24 Parganas, Howrah. The protests disrupted railway services for some time.
Claiming that the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is showing its true colours by opposing a two-day bandh call from Monday against the Centre's policies, CITU state president Anadi Sahu said that the Left trade unions, student bodies and supporters will be on the streets to make the strike a success. Sahu on Sunday said that the Trinamool Congress government's order making it mandatory for all employees to report for work on these two days shows that despite hardships faced by people across the country owing to the price rise of essential goods, including petrol, diesel, cooking gas and food items, it is trying to use coercive tactics to foil the nationwide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions. (PTI)
Despite a call by the West Bengal government that it would not support the nationwide strike, functionaries and supporters of the CPI-M organised protest marches and stopped trains at Jadavpur station in Kolkata.
Apart from banks, workers from various other sectors such as steel, oil, telecom, coal, postal, income tax, copper, and insurance are expected to participate in the strike. The unions in railways and defence sector are expected to make mass mobilisation in support of strike at several hundreds of spots. Roadways, transport workers and electricity workers have decided to join the strike.
Good morning and welcome to our Blog. The call for the nationwide strike today has been given by a joint forum of central trade unions, to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people. Amarjeet Kaur from the All Indian Trade Union Congress General Secretary, told PTI that they are expecting participation of over 20 crore formal and informal workers with mass mobilisation of workers across the country. Follow this space for latest news and updates