More than 15 Crores of workers, working in banking, telecom and other sectors will go on strike tomorrow to press their demand for better pay and in protest against new labour and investment policies. Trade unions have given call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ on September 2. In Bengaluru, more than one lakh employees of state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSTRC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will participate in strike. Commuters are likely to witness another travel nightmare barely a month after KSTRC and BMTC workers went to indefinite strike. Similar situation would be witnessed in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai as auto-rickshaw unions have decided to keep off the roads on Friday.

The unions also oppose a government directive to state-run pension funds to put more money into stock markets. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which is affiliated with the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, is not joining the strike. All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said the unions view the announcements made by a government panel, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, as an eyewash. "It is like cheating the people," she said, adding that the number this year will be bigger than 15 crore who participated in the strike last year.