Hyderabad: Employees of several private and
state-run organisations and Left activists on Tuesday held rallies
across Andhra Pradesh as part of nationwide general strike
which evoked mixed response.
At several places, protesters squatted in front of bus
stations of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport
Corporation (APSRTC) preventing buses from going out.
According to the All India Bank Officers Association
(AIBOA), all banks except State Bank of India and some of its
associate banks participated in the strike.
Around 4,500 branches of various banks across the state
remained closed on account of the strike, Anil Kumar, General
Secretary of AIBOA in AP, said.
Clearing houses did not function today affecting nearly
Rs 1,000 crore worth of transactions in the banks, he said.
CPI State Secretary K Narayana, who led the protest
here, charged that the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh
has imposed a heavy burden on common people in various forms
like hiking taxes.
"The people would teach a lesson to the Congress
government if it did not mend its ways," he said.
CPI said in a release that Narayana was taken into
custody by police and kept at the police station at
Nallakunta.
Schools and colleges remained closed at some places in
the state while autorikshaws remained off the roads in some
towns.
In the port city of Visakhapatnam, attendance at public
sector units including Vizag Steel Plant, NTPC, HPCL and the
Port was by and large normal though some sections of the staff
struck work.
The strike call evoked good response in Warangal district
with shops, cinema halls, school and colleges, banks, post
offices remaining closed.
The Kakatiya University postponed its examination
scheduled for today.
PTI
