Nearly a dozen trade unions began the two-day 'Bharat Bandh' on Monday to protest against the policies of the government.
As the two-day nationwide strike entered its second day on Tuesday, March 29, banking services and public services were thrown out of gear in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as thousands of workers on Monday.
Nearly a dozen trade unions began the two-day 'Bharat Bandh' on Monday to protest against the policies of the government, however, essential services like healthcare, electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected.
Public offices, as well as educational institutions, were also not impacted by the strike.
Some bank branches, particularly in cities with a strong trade union movement, did very limited over-the-counter public dealings such as cash deposits and withdrawals.
The joint forum of central trade unions, which has called for the two-day strike that started on Monday, said that bandh-like situation prevailed in at least eight states due to the nationwide strike against various policies of the government.
"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.
The joint forum of central trade unions is protesting against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.
Read | Bharat Bandh March 28, 29: Nationwide strike hits banking, public transport services
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 the 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 strike.
Thousands of workers of state-owned SAIL, RINL and NMDC also joined the strike, affecting production at steel plants and mines.
(With PTI inputs)
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