Bank Strike 2021: Bankers On Strike, almost 19 crore money transactions affected on 1st day- Watch Video

Bank Strike 2021: Bank strike all over the nation is continuing on the 2nd day also. Employees of public sector banks including banks like State Bank of India (SBI) went on a 2-day strike starting on Thursday. The strike is held to revolt against the move to privatise public sector banks impacting normal banking operations across the country. People are going to face obstructions for 2 days in banking related transactions. However, the private sector,  like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, are working as usual.

Online bank transactions like UPI, Mobile Banking, Pay Service are working without any obstacles. People on the first day of the strike were dependent on online banking services but many faced problems due to the inaccessibility to online mode of banking services. Transactions of around 19 crore rupees are affected on the first day of the strike, as per the report.

Why banks are on the strike?

• UFBU, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) had given a two-day strike call.

• Key services such as deposits and withdrawals, cheque clearance and loan approvals were severely affected due to the strike. ATMs are functioning as usual.

• Around nine lakh employees of various state-run banks are participating in the strike.

• Bank unions have called a strike on December 16 and 17 against the public sector bank privatisation.

• The unions have been protesting ever since the Centre in its Budget 2021-22 announced its intent to privatise banks.

• State Bank of India (SBI) had already warned customers about the nationwide strike's possible impact on banking operations.

• Banks like Canara Bank, PNB, Punjab and Sind Bank, among others had urged the employee unions to reconsider their decision.

• Introduction of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 during the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament, aims to privatise public sector banks.

• The employees and trade unions had started a protest campaign ‘Bank Bachao, Desh Bachao’ at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.