New Delhi: A day-long nationwide strike on Wdnesday impacted normal life in various parts of the country with coal production, banking operations and transport services being hit the most, while violent clashes erupted in West Bengal resulting in arrest of over 200 persons.
Union leaders claimed that over 15 crore organised sector workers went on the strike, call for which was given by 10 central trade unions against changes in labour laws and PSU privatisation along with their other demands. The BJP-backed BMS and NFITU however stayed away from the strike.
The impact was most visible in West Bengal, Tripura,Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry and Odisha among other places, while partial impact was seen in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Gujarat, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Normal life was affected in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan as well, but there was not much impact in the country's financial capital Mumbai except for the banking operations.
Banking services were among the worst hit as 23 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks, 52 regional rural banks and over 13,000 cooperative banks joined the stir. However, staff at SBI, Indian Overseas Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank choose to stay away from the strike.
All India Bank Employees Association General Secretary CH Venkatachalam said nearly five lakh bank employees and officers joined the strike.
State-run Coal India saw nearly half of its 1.7 million tonne daily production getting hit by the strike, as a majority of around four lakh coal workers across the country joined the strike. Union leaders, however, said the impact could be 90 per cent at Coal India, which accounts for 80 per cent of the country's total coal production.
Power generation and other utilities were largely normal.
Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said the strike would not have much impact as there was sufficient coal stock to meet any eventualities, while there was no problem at all with the electricity generation.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was part of the group of ministers that held talks with the trade unions, said that the strike "by and large has not had any major impact".
On the other hand, the ten trade unions said in a joint statement that the response was "unprecedented" with "millions of workers" staying away from the work.
In West Bengal, nearly 200 persons were arrested from different parts after clashes occurred at some places between Left and Trinamool workers including in Murshidabad district.
Train services of South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway were partially affected, but Metro Rail services in Kolkata remained normal.
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