New Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai: Over a million employees working in banks across India are on two-day strike starting Monday March 15, 2021 to protest the Narendra Modi government's decision to privatise public sector banks apart from IDBI Bank.
United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions, has given the call for a two-day nationwide strike on March 15 and 16 against the privatisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and retrograde banking reforms.
The nine banks unions who are participating in the two-day nationwide strike are:
All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).
The bankers strike commenced at about 6 am when service branches dealing in cheque clearances start operations and end on Tuesday midnight.
Banks were already closed on March 13 (second Saturday) and March 14 (Sunday), leading to a four-day break in regular banking operations.
The strike comes about a month after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget, announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government’s disinvestment plan.
Consumers fear services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance, and loan approvals would be affected due to the strike.
Many public sector lenders, including State Bank of India (SBI), have informed their customers that their normal working could be affected at branches and offices if the strike materialises.
Meanwhile, ATMs at a number of places have already dried up because of the weekly off on Saturday and Sunday.
Nirmala Sitharam did not name the banks. However, quoting unnamed officials, news agency Reuters had reported that the Narendra Modi government has decided to handover in private hands 04 banks including Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and the Central Bank of India.
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