Banking operations in the country remained paralysed on the first day of the two-day nationwide bank strike on Wednesday. Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand were worst hit by the protest.
Unions in West Bengal claimed total response to the agitation and struck work on Wednesday. All bank branches and ATMs remained closed in Kolkata. However, a few ATMs were forced open by a political party in a few places in the districts.
Similar effect were seen in other states as well. In Kerala, about 30,000 employees and officers participated in the strike, paralysing functioning of 5,200