Left unions stall financial services

Flight, train disruptions hit transport sector.

The nationwide strike called by trade unions involving employees of airports and government-owned banks and insurance companies nearly crippled Kolkata and had a considerable impact on Mumbai's financial circles though its impact was partial in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

In Kolkata, the Left Front bastion, the strike was all encompassing. Throughout the day, only two Indian Airlines flights operated. International flights were affected. Anticipating trouble, the private carriers had cancelled their services to the city in advance.

Over a dozen long-distance trains of Eastern Railway, including Ganadevata Express, Black Diamond, Poorva, Kanchanjunga and Coal Field, were cancelled. Trains at Sealdah, Howrah, Asansol and Malda stations were obstructed. Fourteen trains were detained at various stations in the state, affecting more than 5,300 passengers.

The scenario was similar in South Eastern Railway. "All EMU coaches of SER on the suburban route were cancelled. SER could not run 72 pairs of suburban trains," said the SER spokesperson. Trains were obstructed and detained at several stations.

There was no bus, mini-bus or taxi service in the city. As the staff stayed away, none of the city's 7,500-odd private buses plied today, leading to a revenue loss of around Rs 2.25 crore in ticket sales, according to Swarnakamal Saha, president of the Bengal Bus Syndicate.

In Mumbai, branches of public sector banks were either shut or wore a deserted look. Over 40,000 banking and insurance employees participated in a march in south Mumbai. Trading in foreign exchange, money and bond markets was thin, given the absence of treasury managers from public sector banks.

Cheque clearing operations were affected. Fifty-seven private and foreign banks participated in the clearing operations. The number of high-value instruments presented for clearing fell to 4,992 from over 14,000 on a normal day. The total value of cheques received at the clearing house aggregated to a mere Rs 1,356 crore, compared to Rs 10,000 crore otherwise.

The overnight call money rates were as low as 1-2 per cent in the absence of demand for funds, as most banks had covered their needs for five days yesterday itself. Friday being half-yearly closing day the markets will now open only on Monday. Earlier in the day, Finane Minister P Chidambaram said the government could ask the public sector banks to work for longer hours in order to clear the backlog.

In Ahmedabad, no bank transactions took place. The ATMs, however, worked as the nationalised banks had loaded the machines a day in advance.

State Bank of India chairman A K Purwar said: "The banking sector employees' agitation has certainly affected our operations. This kind of strike is never good for the people and the industry."

Thanks to the precautions taken by the government, air services were only partially impacted in the country apart from Kolkata. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel claimed, at a press conference in Mumbai, air traffic was not disrupted, barring a slowdown in Kolkata.

According to the civil aviation minister, till the afternoon, the Mumbai airport witnessed 57 departures and 51 arrivals, while the Delhi airport witnessed 54 departures and 42 arrivals.

He said the government would move ahead with the airport privatisation programme, a key issue in the CITU-organised strike. However, he said there was no reason to take any action against the striking employees. Sources in the AAI employee's union said that about 80 per cent of employees did not report for duty.

Indian Airlines said its operations during the day were normal. "We have operated 38 flights against 46 flights with a reasonable load factor. We had clubbed some flights considering the load factor in light of the strike. All flights following the clubbing operated as per schedule," said a spokesperson.

Kingfisher Airlines said its seat factor was not at all affected. The airline cancelled six flights out of its total 44 flights a day. "The airlines had reduced flights by 20 per cent due to the strike. Four Mumbai-Delhi flights were clubbed into two without cutting the passenger load," said an executive.

Air force and navy personnel took over vital installations at airports, including communication and navigational systems, since midnight as part of the government's contingency plan.

The air traffic controllers, who fall under the Essential Activities (Maintenance) Act, did not join the strike and managed air traffic in coordination with defence personnel.