Hyderabad: The ‘Bharat Bandh’ called for by 10 national trade unions had a major impact on services such as banking, telecom and transport in the city on Friday.

The bandh call was given by the trade unions citing government apathy towards their list of 12 demands which includes minimum wages of Rs. 18,000 per month and pension of Rs. 3,000. While city bus services were off road, autorickshaws plied on select routes. Drivers who played the share autos fleeced the passengers charging exorbitant fares. Several office-goers were forced to hitch rides with their colleagues but the unfortunate ones ended up paying huge fares to the share autowalas.

Road Transport Corporation buses of all the deports did not ply on Friday.

Most schools and colleges remained shut anticipating trouble for the students and the staff. A minuscule number of schools, though, were functioning on the city outskirts. The MMTS services, mostly used by commuters of IT sector, to reach Hi-tech city and Lingampally from different parts of the city were overcrowded through the day. According to sources, several IT employees opted for work-from-home on Friday. The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) is not participating in the bandh call. According to trade union sources, about 18 crore employees participated in the bandh.

Addressing the media on the bandh, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the government is not against the demands of the labour unions. “The government always seeks the cooperation and support of the trade unions. Of their 12 demands, eight belong to the Labour department and seven of them have been accepted by the government,” he said.

A commuter attempting to stop a train during the bandh call.

Meanwhile, general secretary of Trade Unions Joint Committee Tiwari said that the demands put forth are justified as they are as per the Seventh Pay Commission. Labour unions of ports, civil aviation, transport, telecom, hospitals and power generation are participating in the dharna, he said. Also, unions of Coal India, ONGC, GAIL and BHEL have also expressed their support to the bandh call, he added while stating that the railway unions are not participating in the bandh.