Nationwide bank strike enters Day Two as employees protest against proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders

Bank strike continued for day-two on Tuesday, led by nine unions of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country, opposing government's policy to privatise the lenders.

Banking services such as cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances and remittances were impacted across public sector banks on Monday. (Photo | K.Sundar) 

The strike saw 100 per cent participation from scale I, II and III bank employees, a bank official said. (Photo | EPS)

Around 10 lakh staffers took part in a two-day strike to protest against the government's policy to privatise more public sector lenders. (Photo | Shriram BN)

A total of 2.01 crore cheque instruments worth Rs 16,500 crore could not be processed at the three national grids -- Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi, as per data provided by the bank unions. (Photo | Vinay Mdapu)

In the Union Budget for FY22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the government will privatise two more public sector banks after having divested the majority stake in IDBI Bank two years ago. (Photo | Prasant Madugula)

The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019, and has merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years. (Photo | EPS)

The Congress extended its full support to the two-day strike call given by bank employee unions and said the Modi government is squarely responsible for the inconvenience caused to people. (Photo | EPS)

Opposing the government's contention that some PSBs are in losses and that it can no longer take care of them, AIBEA said all state-run lenders are earning operating profits. (Photo | EPS)

CPI leader D Raja addresses during a protest in support of the two-day nationwide strike, called by the United Forum of Bank Unions against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)