Thousands of customers felt the heat on Wednesday as bank employees did no work in response to the two-day national strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).
The protest, which was in opposition to the new reforms initiated by the central government in the banking sector, left account holders fuming.
“I came to update my passbook.But, I have to wait for two days.” said Vikas Sharma, an engineering student. His friend, Rakesh Reddy, lamented, “ I have to come back again next week ”.
More than 1000 public and private bank employees gathered at the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI), in Koti to stage a demo.
“Apart from employees, this strike is also in the interests of the public,” said MV Murali, general secretary of the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE). He explained that as per the website of the Indian government, the Banking Law (amendment) Bill passed in Parliament on Tuesday proposed changes to the Banking Act and Banking Companies Act.
“We are totally against the bill, as it will adversely affect public sector banks,” he added. The nationwide protest was held against the recommendations of the Khandelwal Committee to outsource bank operations, and the failure of the government to address various pending issues of bank employees.
“As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), management functions, sanctioning of advances, ‘know your customer’ procedures, and auditing are the core functions of a bank,” said Murali. He pointed out that the Khandelwal Committee has only recommended outsourcing of all noncore activities.
“The committee’s recommendations will put the jobs of thousands of employees in peril. We will continue our agitation until our demands are met,” said G Srikanth, an employee of SBI. His colleague S Vinay said that the reforms will bring in more private players as a result of de-regulation of the banking sector.
“Usually people think bank employees protest only for salary hikes. But this time, we are doing it for the common man who will be affected if the reforms come into play,” Srikanth added.
“As more foreign direct investment (FDI) is sought, it is leading to privatisation. Public banks were the reason India was much less affected by the 2008 recession.” said Murali.
The demo on the second day of the strike will be held at the SBI’s Patny branch at Secunderabad.
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