Kolkata Mar 28 PTI The two-day nationwide general strike called by central trade unions to protest against wrong policies of the Union government evoked mixed response in the eastern region on its first day on MondayServices in the banking and financial institutions were partially hit in several states in the region such as West Bengal Assam and Jharkhand However there was hardly any impact on the functioning of private sector banksBandh supporters put up blockades on road and railway tracks while they were seen picketing in front of various bank branches across the region where normal life was partially affectedEducational institutions business establishments shops and markets largely remained unaffectedThe Jharkhand chapter of the Bank of India Employees Union BoIEU claimed that more than 2000 branches of various public sector banks remained closed across the state Saket Kumar Sharma assistant general secretary of BoIEU Ranchi zone told PTI that they were protesting against various issues including privatisation of banks sale of public sector units and outsourcing in the banking system We are also demanding re-constitution of the old pension scheme he said INTUC central secretary and vice president of Indian National Mines Workers Federation INMWF AK Jha claimed that coal dispatch and road transportation remained affected in Jharkhand Coal production was affected by more than 70 per cent Dispatch and transportation have been affected he told PTI However coal companies including Central Coalfields Limited CCL and Bharat Coking Coal Limited BCCL claimed that there was no impact of the strike on coal production Five workers of Heavy Engineering Corporation HEC Limited claimed they suffered injuries in a scuffle with bandh supporters in Ranchi who wanted to stop them from entering the plantIn Assam banks insurance companies and all other public sector institutional financial establishments remained closed as the employees did not report for their dutiesTanker services of various oil companies were also hit as different unions took part in the strikeCity and long-distance buses cab services auto-rickshaws and other commercial vehicles decided not to ply on the first day of the general strike leaving the commuters in the lurchLeft activists blocked roads and railway tracks at several places across West Bengal where markets and shops were open while essential services like healthcare electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected Public and private offices and educational institutions were not impacted by the strike Banking services were partially impacted as branches in a few areas downed shutters with a section of employees not reporting for duty while many ATMs remained closed INTUC backed Jute Mill trade union leader Ganesh Sarkar said the strike was a partial success in jute mills Several mills in Howrah remained closed but many others were operational An Eastern Coalfields official said 90 per cent of the production remained normal SAILs Durgapur Steel plant also remained operational There were no reports of any significant disruptions in industrial productions in Haldia industrial town ports and the IT sectorA joint forum of central trade unions has given a two-day strike call on Monday and Tuesday to protest against a number of government policiesThe strike however failed to evoke much response in TripuraAttendance in government offices and educational institutions was normal officials saidTheir demands include the scrapping of the labour codes no privatisation in any form scrapping of the National Monetisation Pipeline NMP increased allocation of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and regularisation of contract workers The central trade unions part of this joint forum are INTUC AITUC HMS CITU AIUTUC TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF and UTUC PTI TEAM NN NN

Ranchi Mar 28 PTI Banking services at public sector banks were affected in Jharkhand on Monday as a major section of employees did not report for duty on the first day of the nation-wide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions to protest against various wrong policies of the governmentThe two-day strike was also supported by the All India Bank Employees Association AIBEA However there was hardly any impact on the services of private sectors banks in the stateJharkhand chapter of the Bank of India Employees Union BoIEU claimed that more than 2000 branches of various public sector banks remained shut across the stateBank employees were seen on dharna outside the gates of their bank branches Trade union workers also took out protest marches in various parts of the stateSaket Kumar Sharma assistant general secretary of BoIEU Ranchi zone told PTI that they were protesting against various issues including privatisation of banks sale of public sector units and outsourcing in the banking systemWe are also demanding re-constitution of the old pension scheme he saidMeanwhile five workers of Heavy Engineering Corporation HEC Limited claimed they suffered injuries in a scuffle with bandh supporters here who wanted to stop them from entering the plantThe workers were on their way to the HEC plant for the morning shift when the incident took place The workers alleged that they were beaten up by the trade union members The workers are undergoing treatment at a facility of the companyHEC officials however claimed that production remained unaffected as there was about 90 per cent attendance on MondayINTUC central secretary and vice president of Indian National Mines Workers Federation INMWF AK Jha claimed that coal dispatch and road transportation remained affected in JharkhandCoal production was affected by more than 70 per cent Dispatch and transportation have totally been affected he told PTIHowever coal companies including Central Coalfields Limited CCL and Bharat Coking Coal Limited BCCL claimed that there was no impact of the strike on coal productionA CCL official said that only transportation was slightly affected at Charhi Barka Sayal and Kathara-Bokaro projects while production was almost normalThe joint forum of central trade unions opposing privatisation in any form is on a two-day nationwide strike and their demands include the scrapping of the proposed changes in labour laws and the national monetisation pipeline Increased allocation of wages under MNREGA Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act and regularisation of contract workers are also part of their demandsApart from the ten central trade unions -- INTUC AITUC HMS CITU AIUTUC TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF UTUC -- the joint forum also includes independent sectoral federations and workers associations PTI SAN NAM NN NN

History was made as India got its first woman underground coal miner with Jharkhand’s Akanksha Kumari. In a tweet shared, Central Coalfields Limited – a subsidiary of Coal India – said that Akanksha Kumari became is the second mining engineer in the Maharatna Conglomerate Coal India Limited (CIL) and the first one to work in an […]