Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 06 March 2025
The Andaman & Nicobar State Committee of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) organized a mass demonstration in front of the Andaman & Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd at Phongy Chaung, demanding the immediate resolution of various grievances concerning daily-rated employees.
Addressing the gathering, CITU General Secretary B. Chandrachoodan accused the bank of harassing daily-rated employees ever since the Andaman & Nicobar Cooperative Workers Union raised demands for granting them 1/30th of pay plus dearness allowance (DA). He alleged that the bank, led by Congress leader and former Member of Parliament Kuldeep Rai Sharma, had arbitrarily refused to extend this benefit without justification.
Chandrachoodan further claimed that the bank had also denied daily-rated employees their statutory bonus, despite directives from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and the Labour Commissioner.
CITU State Committee President R. Surendran Pillai elaborated on the demands of the protestors, while D. Ayyappan, Vice President of CITU, criticized the bank’s alleged financial mismanagement. He alleged that while daily-wage workers were being denied their rightful dues, hundreds of crores of rupees remained outstanding as non-performing assets (NPAs) against big businesses in the islands.
CITU leaders SP Kalairajan (Secretary), Shyamal Koley (Treasurer), P. Sathyapal, Anand Rajan, and M. Yugander (Secretaries) led the demonstration, which saw a large turnout of protesting workers.
The protest also raised concerns about alleged corruption and mismanagement within the Andaman & Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd. Speakers at the demonstration emphasised the need for transparency and fairness in the bank’s dealings, particularly regarding the treatment of daily-rated employees.
The mass demonstration reflects growing discontent among workers, with CITU leaders warning of intensified agitation if their demands are not met.