Country’s largest banking chain, State Bank of India (SBI) stated that banking services possibly to get affected due to the strike. Workers from several sectors viz, steel, coal, oil, telecom, postal, income tax and few others are likely to take part.
A joint forum of central trade unions, chaired by the All-India Bank Employees Association, has called for a 2days all-India strike today (March 28) and tomorrow (March 29), to protest against the Central government’s policies affecting employees, farmers, and the public.
The decision has come after trade unions stated they would protest the Centre’s “anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people, and anti-national policies” at a meeting on March 22.
The bank unions are protesting the government’s plan to privatize public sector banks and the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021.
According to a statement given by the trade unions, road workers, transportation employees, and electrical workers have all agreed to join the strike. The Bharat Bandh protest says that the Platform of Central Trade Union and Sectoral Federations and Associations intends to draw attention to criticism of government policies that have been labeled “anti-worker, anti-farmer,
and anti-national” in a statement. On the first day, the impact was felt in Kerala, Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal.
Here are the keynotes on these two days of Bharat Bandh:
This will be India’s first significant demonstration following assembly elections in five states.
The BJP won four of the five states contested: Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Goa, while the AAP won Punjab.
The BJP claimed victory in the four states because of its pro-people, pro-development strategy. On the first day of the strike in Kerala, all government offices are closed. Protesters even halted people driving their own cars at some places.
The commencement of the demonstration in the southern state was marked by empty streets. Bengal, on the other hand, had demonstrations on the streets.
Protesters in Bengal have obstructed railway tracks. Images shared by ANI shows, Left-wing activists were seen in large numbers on railway tracks in Jadavpur.
According to the statement of All India Trade Union Congress General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur to PTI, Trade Union has expected the participation of more than 20 crore protesters to the Bharat Bandh call.
Around 20 crore protesters are likely to join the Bharat Bandh call.
Ministry of power issued an instruction to all state governments and electricity authorities to ensure a 24*7 power supply on Sunday.
It instructed “All parties concerned may be recommended to maintain close surveillance of their regional network/control area and to report any contingencies to the appropriate SLDC, RLDC, and NLDC… Power should be provided to important services such as hospitals, defense, and railways, among others “. Control rooms at the regional and state levels have been activated.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a farmers’ organization, has also backed the protest call. The Bharat Bandh is also one of the largest protests since the end of the farmers’ revolt last year. The farmers plan to organize their next round of protests in April.
Employees of the railways and those employed in the defense sector are also expected to mobilize in large numbers.
Published by : Aditya Andharia
Edited By : Khushi Thakur
