Services and operations at the government-owned banks may get affected as employees go on a two-day strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Monday and Tuesday (March 15 and 16). The unions have called for the strike to protest against the Centre's decision to privatise two state-owned lenders. UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank unions, said at least 10 lakh (1 million) employees will take part in the strike.

As part of the government's disinvestment plan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget 2021 speech announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs). In 2019, the government had privatised IDBI Bank, by selling a majority stake to LIC. Over the four last years, the Central government has merged 14 public sector banks.

Among the nine unions that are part of the UBFU are 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). Among the others are the 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).

On March 4, 9 and 10, there were meetings with the additional Chief Labour Commissioner, but those did not result in anything, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), general secretary C H Venkatachalam said in a statement.

Services such as deposits and withdrawals, cheque clearances and loan approvals are likely to be hit. Public banks such as State Bank of India (SBI) and Canara Bank have already informed their customers that the functioning of the branches/offices may get impacted if the strike does take place. However, they also said that necessary steps were being taken to ensure the smooth functioning of banks on the days the strike was scheduled.

The ATMs are expected to remain operational. Services at private banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank that comprise about one-third of India's banking sector are also expected to remain normal.

Read all latest updates on the bank strikes here

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)

First Published:Mar 15, 2021 10:48 AM IST