Transactions amounting to about Rs 800 crore were affected across Uttarakhand as employees of nationalised banks went on strike against the proposed privatisation of two public sector banks. Various services like deposits, cheque transactions and cash withdrawals were hindered due to the protest.
On Monday, the employees of various nationalised banks like Union Bank, Central Bank of India, Nainital Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB) participated in the two-day nation-wide protest. Since the banks were already closed on Saturday and Sunday, the two-day protest would affect the transaction services across the State today too.
According to Samdarshi Barthwal, the convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) in Uttarakhand, the bank employees are staging the protest to convey their disagreement to the Central Government on the proposed privatisation of two public sector banks. “The banking sector was established for the welfare of the public and it flourished in the last many decades with the public’s money. If the government will privatise these banks, it would adversely affect the banking services of people, especially in the remote rural areas,” said Barthwal. He asserted, “We are not saying that the government should not do it. We are saying that the government does not have any right to privatise these banks because they do not hold that right.” He further added that the transaction services of about Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore were affected on Monday which would be possibly the same on Tuesday too. “For now, only the transaction services are getting affected which will return to normal on Wednesday.
However, we will escalate our protest if the government does not reconsider the proposal of privatising banks,” said Barthwal. He stated that they will stage a bigger protest along with several other unions which are against the privatisation of public sectors if the government fails to reconsider the proposal. It is pertinent to mention here that UFBU consists of nine bank unions of employees and officers and the unions will continue the protest on Tuesday too.
Tuesday, 16 March 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
