On Day 2 of nationwide strike, employees of foreign banks also participate

The two-day nationwide strike of bank employees and officers, which started on March 15, has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, to protest against the government's decision to privatise two more state-run banks.

New Delhi: Banking services across the country were affected on the second and last day of the pan-India bank strike as nearly ten lakh employees of public sector banks and old generation private sector banks did not attend work.

Reports suggest that employees of foreign banks also participated in the strike on Tuesday.

Services like cash withdrawals, cheque clearances and other business related transactions were hit due to the strike.

The two-day nationwide strike of bank employees and officers, which started on March 15, has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, to protest against the government's decision to privatise two more state-run banks.

Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government's disinvestment plan in the Union Budget for the next fiscal.

Unions claimed that on March 15, about 2 crore cheques/ instruments worth about Rs 16,500 crore were not cleared across the country. Many ATMs were also out of cash on the first day itself.

“Indian public sector banks represent the hard-earned savings of the people. Privatisation of banks would risk their savings as many private banks in the past have collapsed and people lost their savings,” AIBEA had said in a statement.

“As per reports received by us from our unions in various states, the strike has been successful. Overwhelming majority of the bank branches remain closed and shutters are down,” said CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Employees' Association (AIBEA).

Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI).

Others are Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).

(With Agency Inputs)