Bank strike: Employees in smaller towns, cities take to streets

Banking services comprising cheque clearance, deposits, withdrawals at branches, and loan approvals, etc., were affected on Monday, March 15 as bank employees went on a nationwide strike against the proposed privatisation of two public sector banks and "retrograde banking reforms."

Around 1 million (10 lakh) bankers are protesting under the aegis of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, which gave a strike call for March 15 and 16. As banks were closed on Saturday (March 13) and Sunday (March 14) as well, regular banking services will now be affected over a four-day period. Meanwhile, branches of private-sector lenders such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank are open, as they are not part of the strike.

Also Read: Bank strike today: ATM services, cheque clearance, other services to be hit

The ongoing strike is said to be largely effective in smaller towns and cities, where employees even took to the streets, marching in processions.

State-run lenders, including the Central Bank of India and State Bank of India among others, have already informed their customers to use their digital channels such as the internet, mobile banking, and ATM services for making transactions during the two-day strike.

Also Read: Bank strike: What are main demands of protesting unions?

How bank employees are protesting across India:

Maharashtra: Banking services in the state were affected on Monday as around 40,000 bank employees and officers went on a two-day strike to protest against the government's decision to privatise two more state-run banks. UFBU's Maharashtra Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar said in a statement that about 40,000 bank employees and officers working in about 10,000 bank branches across the state have joined the nationwide strike.

Visuals from Mumbai