Bharat Bandh today LIVE: Banking, public transport services hit in West Bengal, Kerala, other states

According to the joint forum of trade unions, agitations were held in many industrial areas across states like Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh. Security workers in Sikkim went on strike. Besides, workers in industrial areas in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir also joined the strike.

Public transport services were affected in Haryana on Monday as the Roadways employees joined the two-day nationwide strike call given by a joint forum of the central trade unions to protest against the Centre's alleged wrong policies that are affecting farmers, workers and the general public. Commuters had to face a tough time as the bus services remained suspended at several depots of Haryana Roadways.

Banking services were impacted partially on Monday as a section of bank employees did not report for duty in support of the two-day nationwide general strike called by central trade unions. The strike will continue on Tuesday.

The nationwide strike had a limited impact in the financial capital on Monday, with most of the services functioning normally. Employees from Maharashtra's power sector utilities joined the strike despite the threat of action against them but they had extensive negotiations with the state's power minister Nitin Raut.

The two-day nationwide strike called by the 10 central trade unions against the central government's policies and in support of the 12-point demands, partially affected the banking, postal, telecommunication, insurance services and many production sectors in the northeastern region.

Buses run by state run transport corporations remained off the roads in most parts of Tamil Nadu hitting normalcy on Monday, the first day of the two-day nationwide strike by central trade unions.

Rajya Sabha MPs from the Left and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) parties on Monday staged a protest inside the Parliament premises against the government in support of the two-day 'Bharat Bandh' strike called by trade unions. The MPs held the protest at the Gandhi statue when the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till noon due to disruption in proceedings by Opposition parties over rising prices of petroleum products and over trade union protests.

The two-day nationwide strike called by major trade unions to protest against the central government's alleged wrong policies failed to evoke much response in the BJP-ruled Tripura on Monday, the first day of the stir, officials said. Attendance in government offices and educational institutions was normal. Private schools, however, remained shut citing the safety of the students in the wake of the strike. Vehicles were seen plying on roads while train services and flight operations were normal. Banks, financial institutions, markets and business establishments remained open in Agartala, the state capital. “Life was normal across the state today despite the strike. There was no detention or campaign in favour of the bandh in the state capital or elsewhere,” a senior police officer said. Earlier, the Tripura government had said its offices will remain open on Monday and Tuesday. The state authorities also mandated the employees to report for duty on these two days.

Members of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. Union protest during Bharat Bandh, a two-day nationwide strike against the government over Unilateral Electricity Amendment Bill and privatisation of power firms in Maharashtra's Thane.

Activists of Left trade unions shout slogans as they block railway tracks in support of the two-day Bharat Bandh called to protest against the Centres policies allegedly affecting farmers and workers in Bhubaneswar.

Activists of Left Trade Union block the Dak Bunglow Road in support of the two-day Bharat Bandh called to protest against the Centres policies allegedly affecting farmers and workers.

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the LDF government to forthwith issue orders prohibiting its employees from abstaining from work as part of the two-day nationwide strike. The interim direction was issued by a bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly on a PIL by one Chandra Chooden Nair S. The order was confirmed by advocate Sajith Kumar V who appeared for the petitioner in the matter. He said that the court was of the view that the strike by the government servants was illegal as the same is prohibited under their service rules. The petitioner, in his plea, has contended that the state was encouraging its employees to go on strike against the central government by paying them salary for the days when they abstain from work. The government employees were abstaining from work in support of the two-day nationwide strike -- on March 28 and 29 -- called by a joint forum of central trade unions. The joint forum has given a call for a nationwide strike to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers and people.

Around 8,000 workers of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) did not report for work on Monday, affecting production at the company's 7.5 million tonnes-steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. There are around 11,000 non-executive workers at the plant and out of them, about 75 per cent did not come for work as part of the ongoing nationwide strike, according to a company official. As many as 10 central trade unions on Monday began a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the government's alleged wrong policies that are affecting farmers, workers and the general public. The strike notices have been given by the unions in various sectors, including coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks, and insurance. "We had to shut down one furnace as a precautionary measure. One was already under maintenance. Only one furnace is working (at the plant), the official said while responding to a query related to the impact of workers going on strike. There are three blast furnaces of 2.5 million tonnes per annum each at the plant. RINL produces about 18,000 tonnes of hot metal on a daily basis.

The two-day national strike called for by various unions had its impact on the public transport sector in Tamil Nadu on Monday as a large number of buses operated by State Transport Undertakings (STU) remained off the road, affecting morning office-goers and others in many places. As a result, autorickshaws were charging exorbitant fares, commuters in different cities complained. While many had the option of switching to suburban rail services and the Metro Rail here, same was not the case in other cities of the state and people had to rely on the available thin services of government buses and autorickshaws. The few running buses were packed beyond capacity. According to reports, a large number of buses operated by the STU stayed off the roads, giving a tough time for the morning officer-goers. Trade unions took out a rally here pressing for their demands. Many autorickshaw drivers also joined the protest.

Public transport services were affected in Haryana on Monday as the Roadways employees joined the two-day nationwide strike call given by a joint forum of the central trade unions to protest against the Centre's alleged wrong policies that are affecting farmers, workers and people. Commuters had to face a tough time as the bus services remained suspended at several depots of Haryana Roadways. The roadways employees held protest 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, said that "in all the depots bus services are suspended". "Only a few buses which are run under the kilometre scheme were operated in the morning in Narnaul, Jhajjar and Chandigarh depots by private operators. Our roadways employees are observing a complete strike," he said. He alleged that the BJP led Haryana government was not strengthening the Haryana Roadways fleet. "This indicates their intent to promote privatisation of the transport services. There were 4,200 buses in the Haryana Roadways fleet about six years back, which have been reduced to 2,600 now and route permits are given to promote private buses. Haryana Roadways needs 10,000 buses in its fleet but the government is not paying heed," he claimed.

Workers of NMDC went on a complete strike at its mine in Bacheli and Bhilai Steel Plant employees also refrained from working, AITUC said. As many as 10 central trade unions (CTUs) have joined hands to go on a two-day nationwide strike from Monday. About 20 crore workers are expected to join the strike. 

Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said, "The two-day nationwide strike by the joint forum of central trade unions has begun this morning". About the impact of the agitation, she said that the entire coal belt (mining area) is affected in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Normal life was disrupted at some places in West Bengal in the wake of a two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions from Monday. Transport services were affected in a few districts as protesters blocked roads and halted train movement at some railway stations on the Howrah and Sealdah sections. Railway officials, however, said there were no reports of any major disruption so far. Operations at offices, educational institutions and commercial establishments were unaffected in most parts of the state, even as the trade unions backed by the Left Front exuded confidence that the strike would be successful on both days. Banking services were partially impacted as branches in a few areas downed shutters with a section of employees not reporting for duty, while many ATMs remained closed. However, there was hardly any impact on the functioning of new-generation private sector banks.

The two-day nationwide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions began in Kerala on Monday with almost all institutions downing their shutters. The joint forum has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29, to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people. State-run KSRTC buses did not operate while taxis, auto-rickshaws and private buses kept away from the roads across the state. Commercial vehicles including trucks and lorries are also not plying expressing solidarity with the strike. However, the essential services including milk, newspapers, hospitals, ambulances were not affected. According to media reports from various parts of the state, certain agitators allegedly tried to prevent employees of private firms from reaching their offices. 

Hundreds of workers took part in protests across Visakhapatnam on Monday as part of the two-day nation-wide strike called by trade unions opposing the Centre's move to privatise public sector undertakings, with the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant being the epicentre of the stir. The protestors also gave a call for Vizag bandh on Monday, which drew a moderate response. Workers, under the aegis of the Joint Action Committee, staged a demonstration outside the main gate of the VSP, raising slogans against the Centre's bid to go ahead with the strategic disinvestment of the steel plant. They decried the statements made by Union Ministers in Parliament on the steel plant issue and said they were grossly misleading. They vowed to thwart the Centre's plans by all means and said their fight would continue till the end. Trade unions AITUC, CITU and others staged a rasta-roko at Maddilapalem junction in Visakhapatnam, blocking traffic on the NH-16. Police took the protesting trade unionists into custody and cleared the traffic.

However, there was hardly any impact on the functioning of new generation private sector banks. 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.

Banking services were partially impacted on Monday as a section of bank employees did not report for duty in support of the two-day nationwide general strike called by central trade unions. Transactions at many public sector banks have been impacted as employees have not reported for duty. Besides, 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.

The Maharashtra government has invoked the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) on employees of the three state-run power companies to prevent them from participating in the two-day nationwide strike called by various trade unions from March 28. The act prohibits them from participating in strikes. The government's action came amid fears of power supply getting interrupted. Nevertheless, the employees will protest at 11 am in Mumbai.

Amarjeet Kaur, 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.

CPI(M) MP Bikashranjan Bhattacharyya moves the motion for suspension of business in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 to discuss the issue of the 2-day nationwide strike.

Power sector employees across the country will observe a strike on March 28 and 29 in protest against the privatisation policies of the central government, a workers' union leader said on Wednesday. The main demands of the power sector employees and engineers are that the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 should be withdrawn, all types of privatisation processes should be stopped and the decision to privatise power sector, especially in Union Territories of Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman Diu and Puducherry, should be cancelled. The workers are also demanding inclusion of all the electricity employees appointed after the dissolution of electricity boards under the old pension scheme.

The Power ministry has advised all the state-run utilities and other agencies to be on high alert and ensure round-the-clock electricity supply and stability of the national grid. The advisory has been issued to all states, central public sector undertakings, central electricity authority, national load dispatch centre and regional load dispatch centres. "The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has called for a nationwide strike with effect from 06:00 hrs of March 28 to 06:00 hrs of March 30, 2022," an advisory issued by the power ministry said.

Bengaluru-based Canara Bank said it is taking all necessary steps to ensure the smooth functioning of bank branches and offices. However, the functioning of the bank may be impacted, Canara Bank added. Private lender RBL Bank said its bank unions are affiliated with AIBOA and AIBEA, and the employees associated with these unions may participate in the strike. Banking services to remain impacted on March 31 as well.

New Delhi-headquartered Punjab National Bank (PNB) said AIBEA, Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) have served notices to go on strike on March 28-29. In a statement, PNB said, "While the bank has made all arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted to a limited extent by the strike."

A number of public sector banks, including the country's largest lender SBI, have said that their services may get impacted to a limited extent due to the strike. SBI said it has made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices during the strike

Bank employees' unions have they will support the strike. Bharat Bandh on Monday, Tuesday - Banking services to remain affected. Bank employees demand speedy recovery of bad loans, higher deposit rates by banks, lower service charges on customers as well as restoration of old pension schemes for staff.

Workers of roadways, transport and electricity departments have also decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) which is likely to be imposed in Haryana and Chandigarh Trade unions, including INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC are part of the joint forum.

A two-day nationwide strike, starting from today, has been called for by a joint forum of central trade unions to protest against central government policies. The All India Bank Employees Association has announced its support to the strike.

The bank unions are participating in the strike to protest against the government's plan to privatise public sector banks.

Central trade unions in the railways and defence sector will carry out mass mobilization in support of the strike at several places