Mumbai:
Banking and insurance sectors in the city were severely
affected by the one-day strike called by trade unions
across India protesting against the reforms policy of
the central government.
Employees
and officers owing allegiance to five different organisations
struck work on Wednesday, crippling the operations of
all public sector banks and insurance companies. In the
state-run establishments of most of the other sectors,
however, it was work as usual.
Bank
employees belonging to the All India Bank Officers Confederation
(AIBOCC), the National Confederation of Bank Employees,
the All India Bank Officers Association, the Bank Employees
Federation of India and the All India Bank Employees Association
went on strike.
The
strike was in protest against privatisation of banks,
disinvestment, closure of public sector units, and retrenchment
of staff, among other causes, said an AIBOCC press release.
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was fully functional today
and cleared cheques worth Rs 3,000 crore, mostly from
the foreign, new private, as well as old private banks,
as against its daily average of Rs 8,000 crore.
The
number of banks, which took part in the countrywide strike
today, numbered 32. This includes State Bank of India
and its associates, and other nationalised banks, said
an RBI spokesperson.
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