Bharat Bandh 2020: Banking, transport services set to be impacted

Banking,
transport and other services across the nation are expected to be affected on
Wednesday as trade unions have called a nationwide strike, where at least 25
crore workers will take part to protest against the Centre’s labour and
economic policies.

Ten Central
Trade Unions (CTUs) — INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF,
UTUC — along with various sectoral independent federations and associations
will rally against the “anti-people” policies of the BJP-led NDA
government.

Public
Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks like Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank
are likely to be amongst the most affected, said sources.

Services
like deposit and withdrawal, cheque clearing and instrument issuance are likely
to be impacted due to the strike. However, services at private sector banks are
unlikely to be affected.

Several
banks have already informed stock exchanges about the strike and its impact on
banking services.

People might
face difficulty as ATM services across the country are also likely to face the
burden in Wednesday’s general strike. However, NEFT services will remain
available round the clock.

Country’s
leading lender State Bank of India (SBI) said the strike is set to have minimal
impact on its operations adding very few SBI employees will be a part of the
six bank unions participating in the strike.

In West
Bengal, trade unions affiliated to Left and other parties called for a bandh
against the economic policies of the BJP government. However, the TMC-led state
government said it will not support any bandh.

Transport
Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the West Bengal Travel Corporation will
operate 22% additional buses on Wednesday. The state government will also offer
insurance cover to vehicles against damages during the bandh.

All vehicles
registered within the state of West Bengal have been insured by the Transport
Department with an insurance coverage of up to Rs 6 lakh.