Cities slow down as strike hits bus, banking services

LUCKNOW/ALLAHABAD/VARANASI/KANPUR: Central Trade Unions’ day-long strike evoked a mixed response in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Transport, banking and insurance facilities were hit during the daylong strike, while police said no instances of violence were reported from any part. “The strike call by the central unions was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the state,” IG (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh said.
Claiming the strike was a success, All India People’s Front general secretary Dinkar Kapoor said there was resentment among labourers and workers against the BJP-led NDA government for failure to accede to people’s demands.
In Lucknow, transport and banking facilities were hit and strike hit movement of inter-city buses leaving commuters to wait endlessly for transport. In Lakhimpur, banking and insurance operations affected transactions worth several crores of rupees. Business worth around Rs 500 crore is believed to have been affected. Most daily use goods could not be transported because of the transport vehicles observing the strike. Sandeep Bansal, president of UP Vyapar Mandal, said, “Transportation of non-perishable goods is likely to cause a shortage of products in the markets in the coming days.”
Most of UP Roadways buses were off road. UP state employees and teachers unions joined the strike to demand pay parity and improvement in service conditions.
In Allahabad, bank, insurance, income tax, roadways and postal services were hit, but private transport services were normal. Union leaders claimed bandh received unprecedented success and work was completely paralysed due to strike in public sector. Fearing clashes, a large number of shops in the main markets of Allahabad remained closed in morning hours.
In Varanasi, employees of UPSRTC indulged in violence. Work in banks, postal department, BSNL and LIC offices also remained paralysed. Unruly scenes were witnessed near UPSRTC’s cantonment bus depot where employees allegedly thrashed private auto drivers and passengers. Many buses were damaged in Kandav between Varanasi and Allahabad by demonstrators. Similar scenes were evident at Kashi depot of UPSRTC and senior officials reported the matter to police. UPSRTC regional manager P K Tiwari claimed services of roadways buses remained affected for two hours. Four buses were damaged at Kadav on Allahabad route after which FIRs were lodged against demonstrators.
Bank employees also claimed clearance of cheques worth about Rs 16000 crore were stuck across the state. Around 3000 employees in city and 35,000 bank employees participated across state in the strike. An official said, “Since only one-third of the bank staff chose to strike, not much transactions were affected as there was sufficient manpower in the banks.”