Banking operations were today paralysed in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and attendance remained poor in Mumbai and the NDA-ruled states.
Banking operations were today paralysed in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and attendance remained poor in Mumbai, the NDA-ruled states, though the national strike by the Opposition did not include financial institutions.
However, the banks functioned normally in other parts of the country.
"There was no strike in banks, but banking operations were paralysed in West Bengal and Kerala," United Forum of Bank Unions convener C H Venkatachalam said, adding however, in the NDA or BJP-ruled states like Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, attendance was poor in banks.
Elsewhere, banking operations were normal, Venkatchalam
added. Reports from Mumbai said banks remained open in the
financial capital, but only a few staff reported for duty. There are about 60,000 bank branches in the country.
Bank of Baroda chairman MD Mallya said, "there was around 50% attendance in the bank. Some states were more affected than others." Trade and industry were more affected than individual customers because of poor attendance of staff, he added.
An official with the Indian Banks Association said, "bank employees unions were not part of the strike. So, all branches
officially remained open but attendance was affected due to
disturbance in commutation."
The Opposition NDA and the Left parties have separately called for a Bharat Bandh today to protest against the recent hike in fuel prices. Following the hike last month, petrol, diesel and kerosene rates have gone up by Rs 3.50, Rs 2 and Rs 3 a litre, respectively. Prices of cooking gas has risen by Rs 35 a cylinder.
Most of the Opposition parties, barring the RJD, BSP, LJP and RLD, participated in the bandh. The participating parties are BJP, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, JD-U, CPM, CPI, Forward Block, RSP, AIADMK, MDMK TDP, BJD, JD-S, AGP, INLD and the Akali Dal.
An RBI spokesperson said normally 8 lakh cheques are received for clearance by the central bank in Mumbai, but today only 2 lakh cheques were received.
However, real-time clearance system of the RBI like ECS, NEFT and RETGS functioned normally, the spokesperson added.
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