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Bank services hit across country as staff go on strike

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NEW DELHI/MUMBAI/CHENNAI/KOLKATA: Banking operations across the country were hit on Tuesday as over 10 lakh bank employees in more than 1,30,000 branches pan-India struck work — protesting against reforms in the banking sector among other issues — thereby affecting cheque-clearing activity. However, private lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank functioned normally.


An official of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) — the umbrella body of nine unions which has given the strike call — said “over 10 lakh bank employees spread in more than 1,30,000 branches across the country struck work hitting cheque-clearing activity”.


Most public sector bank branches visited by IANS correspondents had their shutters down.


Banking operations in Tamil Nadu were affected with around 55,000 bankers striking work pressing for their demands, said a report from Chennai citing a top All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) leader.


“The strike is a huge success. It is a dawn-to-dusk strike as cheque clearing operations start at 6 am Bankers working in around 10,300 branches struck work protesting the policies towards the sector,” AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said.


Venkatachalam said around 12 lakh financial instruments valued at around Rs 7,300 crore could not be cleared.


Government treasury transactions were impacted. Foreign exchange transactions, import and export bill transactions and sanction of loans, among others, were also affected.


In most of the places, clearing operations, particularly outward clearing, was seriously affected.


Around 42,000 bank employees and officers from Maharashtra joined their colleagues in the day-long nationwide strike, with plans to intensify the agitation, a top official said.


“The strike was a total success in Maharashtra. No banking transactions could be carried out in any bank branches, cheques clearing operations were completely paralysed. Bank ATMs which worked for a couple of hours initially also could not dispense cash later,” said UFBU Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar.


The strike hit around 42,000 branches of 22 public sector banks including the monolithic State Bank Of India and IDBI, 18 old generation banks, eight foreign banks and 56 Regional Rural Banks in Mumbai and Maharashtra, said AIBEA leader Vishwas Utagi.


Tuljapurkar said that the strike was to oppose banks privatisation, banks consolidation and for initiating tough measures against big corporate loan defaulters, besides opposing the increase in service charges and reduction in interest rates on saving accounts by banks, which is an attempt to shift the burden of big loan defaulters onto the common masses.


Several thousand bank employees staged a rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai which was addressed by leaders of UFBU and its nine affiliated unions. — IANS


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