Strike shuts down banks, Rs 200 cr lost

Banking operations were affected in the city on Friday as employees joined the all-India strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions in protest against the Centre?s policies.

Banking operations were affected in the city on Friday as employees joined the all-India strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions in protest against the Centre’s policies.

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All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) president Alok Khare said more than 4000 employees, including officers, struck work in Indore. “The strike was a complete success,” he said.

The striking employees assembled at Punjab National Bank’s Cloth Market branch and took out a procession to Rajwada where a public meeting was held in front of the State Bank of Indore building. Barring some new generation private sector banks like ICICI and HDFC, all others remained closed.
Business worth Rs 200 crore was affected following the strike, AIBOA organising secretary Satyendra Bindal said.

The United Forum of Bank Unions, an umbrella organisation for nine different trade unions of bank officers and employees, had called the strike to protest government plans to outsource many non-core activities to private parties and not to provide employment on compassionate grounds but to recruit only on the basis of merit. The government, according to the union, has not been receptive to the demand to allow them to switch over from the provident fund scheme to a contributory pension scheme.