Strike alert: Banks likely to remain shut for four days

If the two-day long employees’ strike materialises, customers may face issues as banks will be closed for four consecutive days starting from next Saturday.

Hyderabad: Public sector lenders State Bank of India (SBI) and Canara Bank have said that their operations may get affected due to the proposed strike by several bank unions on March 15 and 16 (next Monday and Tuesday).

"We have been advised by Indian Banks Association (IBA) that United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has given a call for all India strike by bank employees on 15th & 16th March 2021," SBI informed stock exchanges on 10 March.

Adding, “While the bank has made all arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted by the strike,” SBI said.

Similarly, Canara Bank said last week that it was taking necessary steps for smooth functioning of bank branches and offices on the days of the proposed strike.

If the strike materialises, customers may face issues as banks will be closed for four consecutive days starting from next Saturday as banks have their regular holidays on March 13 (second Saturday) and March 14 (Sunday).

Last February, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, gave a call for a two-day strike from March 15 to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders.

Presenting the Budget for FY 2021-22, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as part of a disinvestment drive to garner ₹1.75 lakh crore.

"Other than IDBI Bank, we propose to take up the privatization of two Public Sector Banks and one General Insurance company in the year 2021-22," she said during her latest Budget speech on February 1.

The government last year consolidated 10 public sector banks into four and as a result, the total number of PSBs came down to 12 from 27 in March 2017.

(Shravan Nune)