Banking services hit across country due to 2-day bank strike

The two-day strike called by bank employees' union, ending Tuesday, severely hit banking services across the country.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine bank unions, had called the two-day strike to protest against the Centre's decision to privatise public sector banks.

Almost all 8,300 bank branches in West Bengal, barring a few exceptions, remained closed for two days, while about 90 per cent of nearly 11,000 ATMs were shut, Economic Times quoted All India Bank Employees Association President Rajen Nagar as saying.

On the first day of the strike, about 85 lakh cheques and other bank instruments were not cleared by bank branches in Mumbai alone.

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

The Centre's policies are aimed at weakening public sector banks by starving them of capital, instead of strengthening them, UFBU was quoted as saying.

UFBU comprises of nine major unions -- All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), 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).

In this year's Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that other than IDBI Bank, two public sector banks will be privatised.

Also read: Bank employees' strike to hit SBI services on March 15, 16