Strike doesn’t affect life in Tamil Nadu

Normal life in Tamil Nadu was not affected by the 24-hour nation-wide strike called by 11 trade unions Tuesday, with buses and trains running as usual though banking and insurance operations in government-owned organisations were affected.

“The strike has not affected me. The buses are running so are suburban trains,” R. Satyanarayana, a private sector employee, told IANS. Private sector organisations including banks and insurance companies functioned as usual in the state.

In a statement, C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees’ Association, said the strike in the banks was a total success.

“The functioning of the banks, including RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and State Bank of India were seriously affected because of the strike. Cash transactions, cheques clearing operations, foreign exchange operations, treasury operations and government transactions could not be carried out due to the strike,” he said.

While some ATMs did not function for want of cash replenishment, others worked as usual.

“The ATM is working as usual. But the branch is closed. But there is not much of a crowd at the ATM because of the strike,” a security guard at a SBI ATM told IANS.

However, the breakdown services of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) were affected as the maintenance service personnel participated in the strike, TNEB officials told IANS.