Bank ‘bandh’ commences in Assam against government policies

Guwahati, December 21, 2018:

Do you know that banking services in the state have come to an abrupt standstill today? It is a result of the The All India Bank Officers Confederation’s call for strike against the Indian Banks’ Association’s move to leave officers in scale IV and above out of the bipartite wage settlement ambit. Banks will remain closed from today onwards and services will resume on Thursday. There will be a brief respite from the bandh Monday when bankers shall return to their desks.

This bandh is bound to rock Christmas festivities in the state and even ATMs are expected to be hit on December 26, when United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), a powerful body comprising of nine unions and an estimated 10,00,000 officers, has decided to call for a bandh.

“Since 1991, we have called 35 strikes against government policies. On 26^th, we intend to strike against the government’s intention to merge three banks – Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank and Syndicate bank”, a spokesperson for UFBU said. He further added: “On 1^st April, five SBI associates were merged, leading to losses in the first three quarters of the year. No resolution can be reached from this merger. Govt is allowing small private banks to enter our region and they want to finish off the public sector, hence this move.”

It may be mentioned Modi-led BJP government has been accused of their agenda to privatize all sectors that they touch.