SBI strike hits life in J&K

With the strike of State Bank of India employees entering its forth day, majority of the central government employees, posted in different departments in Jammu and Kashmir, are without pay as their salary cheques are also held up in the various bank branches.

"My salary of the month of March is still held up as the SBI employees are on strike," said Anwar Ahmed, an employee of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar.

The nationwide indefinite strike, launched to press for their demand of revision of pension ceiling, has completely paralysed the functioning of the bank. Over a dozen branches of SBI in Srinagar wore a deserted look on the fourth consecutive day as employees and officers of bank remained on strike.

"This is a genuine demand on recommendations of SBI Management for revision of the pension and family pension. We are facing extremely indifferent attitude from Finance Ministry and the Ministry is delaying the approval," said a senior manager at the main SBI branch in Srinagar.

However, there is also resentment among the bank customers especially businessmen growing.

"We are facing unprecedented problems in our transactions these days, our business is suffering due to none of our fault," aggrieved shopkeepers in main business centre of Lalchowk in Srinagar said.

Reports from Jammu said that there was a huge loss to customers of other commercial banks also with the closure of Clearing House. The cheques worth several thousand crores remained uncleared, these reports said.

However, the officials of Coordination Committee of SBI Employees and Officers appealed the bank customers to bear with them.

They also appealed them to put pressure on the government and SBI management to call the employees federations on the table, resolve the deadlock and settle the pension issue to the satisfaction of employees and officers.