Bharat Bandh: Banking hit in Punjab, bus service in Haryana

Employees of nationalised banks held protests in Punjab, while passengers bore brunt of Haryana Roadways chakka jam

Banking and bus services were affected in Punjab and Haryana, respectively, on Monday when employees went on strike in response to the two-day Bharat Bandh call given by Left-backed trade unions against the BJP-led Centre’s privatisation plans.

Banking services were hit as employees of nationalised banks observed a strike in response to the two-day Bharat Bandh call given by trade unions in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Banking services in the Malwa region of Punjab were partially affected with employees of nationalised banks protesting outside their branch offices against the plan to privatise public sector banks and provisions of the Banking Laws Amendment Bill, 2021. Nationalised banks were locked and union leaders said all public dealings would remain suspended on Tuesday as well.

Private sector banks functioned as usual.

Bus services in Punjab were unaffected as the state roadways employees’ unions distanced themselves from the two-day strike.

Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation union’s Bathinda president Gursikander Singh said that none of the roadway’s unions was participating in the bandh.

Rohtak bus stand wears a deserted look as Haryana Roadways employees struck work in response to the bandh call on Monday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

Passengers of Haryana Roadways bore the brunt of the chakka-jam declared by employees in support of the bandh call. The passengers, mostly girl students and pass holders, could be seen waiting at bus stops as most government buses remained off the road due to the strike.

“After waiting for an hour, I had to return home as I couldn’t catch a bus to Kurukshetra. I missed today’s coaching class,” said Pallavi, a student from Ladwa town in Kurukshetra district.

The roadways buses in Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts remained off road and passengers were seen struggling to reach their destinations in private buses and taxis.

Most buses were seen parked inside the depots and roadways employees held protests. Police were deployed to avert any untoward incident.

While roadways employees claimed that the strike was complete, Kuldeep Singh, the general manager of Haryana Roadways Karnal depot, said only a few employees of the roadways are supporting the strike and there is no major impact on the movement of buses in the district.

Protesting roadways employees are demanding that more buses be added in the fleet, the old pension scheme be restored and the appointment of contractual employees be regularised.