A 48-hour long nationwide strike - Bharat Bandh - entered its second day on Tuesday. The protest is called by several trade unions to protest against the central government policies that they call "anti-worker and anti-farmer".
Rising fuel prices, reduced rate of interest on the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, changes in labour laws, are some of the demands of the forum protesting for two days. INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC are some of the trade unions part of the joint forum. Apart from these organisation, independent sectoral federations and workers’ associations are also part of the protest.
As the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has supported the strike, the banking services are likely to take a hit on Tuesday. Their support has come against the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021.
Here Are The Key Points | Bharat Bandh Day 2
- The Bharat Bandh saw a partial impact with banking and transport services taking a hit in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh among other states.
- The Kerala High Court issued orders that prohibited government workers from abstaining from work as the offices were impacted on Day 1 of the strike.
- The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses were not seen on the roads. Private taxis were also kept away from the roads.
- The left parties also took to the streets in Kolkata. These parties were also critical of Mamata Banerjee's state government as it asked the employees to not miss work.
- In Haryana, the impact was visible on the streets as the state-run buses did not run in Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Rohtak, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Kaithal districts.
- In Rajya Sabha, MPs from the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the left parties staged a protest near the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises.
- In Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, unions from coal-mining areas participated in the protest.