Vehicular traffic was normal but most nationalised banks, post offices and insurance offices were shut on Wednesday during the nationwide bandh called by central trade unions against the “anti-people” policies of the Narendra Modi government.
Apart from State Bank of India, branches of nationalised banks were shut in most places including Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad.
Auto-rickshaws and private buses, the two main modes of public transport, plied normally.
“We had left it up to the conscience of the operators (whether to join the bandh or not). Most of the auto-rickshaws plied as usual,” said Shyam Kinkar Jha, general secretary of the Shikshit Berojgar Tempo Chalak Sanchalak Sangh.
A coal worker plants a flag on a wagon in Jharia, Dhanbad.
Employees stage a dharna outside the closed LIC office in Jamshedpur. Pictures by Manob Chowdhary, Shabbir Hussain and Bhola Prasad
Industrial units in Kokar, Ranchi, and Adityapur near Jamshedpur functioned as usual. “The bandh was not called for the industrial sector,” said Santosh Khetan, general secretary of the Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA). “We are already going through troubled times and most workers reported for duty in all the industrial units currently operational in the Adityapur Industrial Area.”
Bistupur resident R.K. Singh, a Tata Steel employee, was among those affected by nationalised banks being shut.
“I was not aware of the bandh call as I had not read the newspaper in haste to reach the bank for depositing money in the account of my son (who studies in a Pune college). But the bank was closed and I read the graffiti of the bandh call. I was very tense as tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day of depositing fees for my son. On my son’s advice I asked a neighbour who has netbanking facility on his smartphone and managed to transfer the amount late in the afternoon,” Singh said.
ATMs of all banks remained operational.
The strike evoked a tepid response in the coal belt too. Production and dispatch of coal in 40 collieries in Dhanbad and Bokaro remained almost normal. Some collieries in Nirsa, Bermo, Kathara and Dhori were affected.
