INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bank strike In October: The unions said that the strike call is to oppose bank mergers.
Two trade
unions of bank employees have proposed an all-India strike on October 22 to protest against the announced consolidation of 10 state-run
"We can easily understand that mergers are a prelude to privatisation of banks and hence we need to vehemently oppose such moves," the Bank
Employees Federation of India (BEFI) said in a statement
In August, the government announced mega merger plans for state-run banks in a bid to strengthen the country's financial sector, a move
which it said would bring down the number of public sector banks in the system to 12 from 27
Here are 10 things to know about the bank's strike:In a regulatory filing, Bank of Baroda said that the functioning of its
branches/offices may be "affected/paralyzed" due to the proposed strike.The state-run lender, however, assured that it is taking all
India Bank Employees Association (AlBEA) and the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI)."Merger of banks will imply closure of large
number of branches with consequent staff surplusage and staff redundancy which in turn would endanger our jobs and job security," BEFI said
in a statement.In a joint statement, the unions said that the strike call is to oppose bank mergers and banking reforms and high penal and
month, four unions of public sector bank officers - the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), the All India Bank Officers'
Association (AIBOA), the Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC) and the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) - had called
for a strike opposing the merger of banks
However, the strike was later deferred after Union Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar assured the unions the government would look into their
demands.According to the mega consolidation plan announced in August, Punjab National Bank will be merged with United Bank of India and
Oriental Bank of Commerce; Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank, and Andhra Bank with Corporation Bank and Union
Bank of India.The merger to combine 10 state-run banks into four follows the amalgamation of six of SBI's associate banks along with
81,781 crore were disbursed during the nine-day outreach programme organised by banks
The loan camps were aimed at meeting the demand of borrowers during the festival season.The government expects GDP growth to pick up in the
October-March period as consumer demand improves in the festival season.Follow TheIndianSubcontinent for latest election news and live
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