Bank employees' nationwide strike affects life in Guwahati city

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Banking operation in the city suffered on Monday as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organization of nine unions, called a nationwide strike on March 15 and March 16 to protest against the proposed privatization of two state-owned lenders. About 10 lakh bank employees participate in the nationwide strike.

The strike comes after Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget announcement where she announced the privatization of two public sector banks as part of the government disinvestment drive to generate Rs. 1.75 lakh crore.

According to the reports, services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance, and loan approvals were affected due to the strike. However, ATMs remained functionless.

However, branches of private sector lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were open as they are not part of the strike.

March 13 was a second Saturday and March 14 is a Sunday. Thus, to sum up banks are set to remain closed for four days.

Also Read: Nationwide Bank Strike: Cheques worth Rs 16,500 crore got stuck

Also Watch: Assam Polls 2021: Bhupesh Baghel blew the election bugle on behalf of Congress