 "Banking services disrupted across Maharashtra on Day 2 of nationwide strike")
The two-day pan-India bank strike ended on Tuesday, with the disruption in services including cash withdrawals, deposits, loan disbursements and cheque clearances hitting customers hard across Maharashtra.
Around 50,000 members belonging to various bank unions, under the joint platform of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), stayed away from work during the strike on March 15-16 across the state, union leaders claimed.
The forum was protesting privatisation of two more government-owned banks, as announced in the Union Budget for fiscal 2021-22.
"Today (Tuesday) also, as per reports from our unions in various states, the strike has been successful. Overwhelming majority of the bank branches remain closed, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said in a statement.
Only some branches headed by senior officials like scale IV and scale V chief managers and assistant general managers were kept open as they are not covered by the strike. However, in those branches too no transaction could be carried out as all other staff joined the strike, he said.
Routine banking business involving cash withdrawals, loan disbursements, repayment of loans and negotiation of bills could not take place in these two days, Venkatachalam added.
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According to him, in the Western grid, which also includes Mumbai and Goa, close to 1.70 crore cheques/instruments worth Rs 13,000 crore were not cleared during the two-day nationwide strike.
Members of UFBU 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) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI).
Others are 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).