A closed ATM on Wednesday. Picture by Pabitra Das

The trusty ATM was missed the most as banking operations came to a halt on Wednesday because of a two-day strike by the forum of bank employees’ unions.

Sabita Saha, 40, hurried from one shut ATM to another along AJC Bose Road in the afternoon. She desperately needed cash to buy blood for her son, undergoing treatment in a south Calcutta hospital. “Please let me in. My son is in hospital and I need money to buy blood,” Sabita pleaded with the guard at one of the six ATMs.

But he wouldn’t budge. “I am sorry. The union leaders have pulled down the shutters and I cannot risk antagonising them by letting you in.”

Leaders of the United Forum of Bank Unions, which called the strike over merger and wage issues, claimed victory. “Employees and officers’ unions of private sector and foreign banks are also part of the forum and are participating in the strike. We requested employees and officers of foreign and private sector banks in the city to co-operate with us and they did. Even co-operative banks kept their branches closed on Wednesday,” said Shyamal Karmakar, the general secretary of the SBI Staff Association (Bengal).

The few ATMs that were functioning in the morning ran out of cash by noon. Shops that do not accept plastic money suffered as much as shoppers who had stepped out of home hoping to withdraw cash for their festive buying. All the ATMs near the Calcutta Municipal Corporation headquarters adjacent to New Market were shut.

“I had no idea that ATMs of private banks would be shut. I had come to buy a gift for my parents on their 25th marriage anniversary on Thursday but I do not have enough cash,” said Jadavpur University student Soumik Chatterjee, standing outside a closed ATM at Esplanade.

Farhad Ali, a shopkeeper at New Market, said business was dull throughout the day compared to the past few days. “The volume of transactions is down by 30 per cent. If the strike continues on Thursday and people don’t have cash in hand, it will be a blow to us in the run-up to the Pujas.”

People who deposited cheques on Monday or Tuesday could have to wait until next week for the money to be credited to their accounts. “I deposited a cheque for Rs 18,000 in my account with Bank of Baroda on Tuesday. But I don’t think my cheque will be cleared before next Wednesday because the strike will be followed by bank holidays from Sunday till Tuesday,” said Surojit Halder, an insurance agent.

Union leaders said the strike would continue on Thursday. Banks will be shut on Monday and Tuesday for Mahalaya and half-yearly closing.