BENGALURU: With around five lakh bank employees staging protest on September 26 and 27, around 5,000 banks and its branches will stay closed. This is a part of the all India bank strike which will be held to protest against the merger of 10 state-run banks.
With this, banks will stay shut from September 26 to 28, which is a Saturday and a closed holiday due to Mahalaya Amavasya.
Members of four unions - All India Bank Officers Confederation, All India Bank Officers Association, Indian National Bank Officers Congress and National Organisation of Bank Officers - along with officers of all regional rural banks will take part in the protest.
The bank employees are also demanding that banks operate only five days a week. They also want the immediate settlement of wage revision. The banks will resume normal operations from September 30, which is a Monday.
Unfortunately, the strike is likely to affect citizens. On average, around 1 lakh people visit banks in the city every day. Many say that the strike will affect the salaries that are to be credited on the first of the month. If salaries are not credited on time, it will be a headache for many, especially with Dasara festivities round the corner.
Mehul K, a citizen, said, "Banks conveniently chose Thursday and Friday for the strike as they will get a chance to enjoy a long weekend. Some others will apply for leaves as October 2 (Wednesday) is also a holiday for banks."
FKCCI president C R Janardhana said the federation had opposed the strike. He added that September 30 will have no bank transactions because of half-year ending.