Bharat Bandh: Bank Unions Call For Strike on March 15, 16 | ATM Services to be Affected Across India

Bharat Bandh on March 25, 16: Keeping in mind the upcoming bharat bandh, the State Bank of India said that the bank has made arrangements for the normal functioning in all branches and offices, but it added that the work may be impacted by the strike.

Written by: India.com Business Desk Edited by: Manmath Nayak

Published: March 11, 2021, 9:10 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/business/bharat-bandh-bank-unions-call-for-strike-on-march-15-16-atm-services-to-be-affected-across-india-4484878/ Copy

Bank Holidays in June 2021

Bharat Bandh on March 15: Expressing resentment over the Central government’s move to privatise public sector banks, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, have called for a nationwide strike on March 15 and 16. Issuing a statement, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said that around 10 lakh bank employees will go on a nationwide strike on March 15 and 16 since the conciliation meeting did not yield any positive results.

Moreover, the Unions have offered to reconsider the strike if the government will agree to reconsider their decision to privatise the banks.

State Bank of India: Keeping in mind the upcoming bharat bandh, the State Bank of India said that the bank has made arrangements for the normal functioning in all branches and offices, but it added that the work may be impacted by the strike.

“We have been advised by Indian Banks Association (IBA) that United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has given a call for an all-India strike by bank employees on 15th and 16th March 2021,” SBI said in a statement.

However, ahead of the bharat bandh, all banks across the country are scheduled to be closed on March 13 — second Saturday and March 14 — Sunday.

The strike has been called by the bank union as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February this year announced the privatisation of public sector banks as part of the government’s disinvestment drive to generate Rs 1.75 lakh crore. The Centre had last year merged 10 public sector banks into four, bringing down their number from 27 in March 2017 to 12.

“Other than IDBI Bank, we propose to take up the privatisation of two PSBs and one general insurance company in the year 2021-22,” Sitharaman had said.

The Union that are taking part in the bharat bandh include 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).