The State’s banking sector suffered a major jolt due to the 48-hour strike by trade unions on Wednesday and Thursday with transactions estimated at Rs. 5,000 crore not happening.
No clearing house, including that of the Reserve Bank, functioned on these days as a result of which no cheques had been cleared. Banks, along with mining in the coal belt areas, remained paralysed due to the strike.
Banking staffers stay away
All India Bank Employees Association national secretary B.S. Rambabu said over 75,000 employees working in 8,000-plus branches of public sector banks, including cooperative banks, regional rural banks and scheduled commercial banks participated in the 48-hour strike.
“The sector remained totally paralysed,” Mr. Rambabu said.
Mining hit
Activity in the mining sector was severely hit and the loss in production from mines operated by Singareni Collieries Company Limited in Adilabad alone amounting to over Rs. 10 crore. The SCCL operates major mines in Khammam, Karimnagar and Warangal districts where there was no production from open cast and underground mines as workers abstained from their work.
RTC affected
Movement of the State Road Transport Corporation buses was affected as majority union and its members were absent from duties. The RTC management, however, could operate skeletal services on some important routes towards Thursday afternoon while auto rickshaws were back on the roads by evening.
Members of the trade unions took out rallies in different parts of the State while striking employees held gate meetings. Workers blocked entrances to the collectorates in Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Anantapur and other districts while bike rallies were taken out in several other places.