Trade Unions Call Bharat Bandh On March 28 & 29; Know Services To Be Affected

Bhubaneswar: A joint forum of Central trade unions has called for two-day Bharat Bandh on March 28 and 29 in protest against the government policies that have affected workers and people of different economic sectors.

According to a release of the Joint Forum of Central Trade Unions, the decision on nationwide strike was taken at its  meeting in New Delhi on March 22. The bandh call was given after discussing the preparations in various states and sectors for the purpose.

The bandh marks a protest against “anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies” of the Central government, the release stated. The working people have been severely affected by the Centre’s policy decisions which have led to regular rise in the prices of petroleum products including petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene and CNG, it added.

Besides, the government has brought down the interest rate on EPF and is planning to implement monetisation policy regarding the PSUs, the forum stated.

The workers’ unions of different sectors including transport, power supply, coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, banks and insurance would join the strike. The unions in railways and defence sectors would mobilise support for the strike at different places, it claimed.

It also appealed to various unions at state levels to join the Baharat Bandh. The banking sector will be joining the strike, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said on Facebook.

The trade unions which are members of the joint forum are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.