In the wake of a bandh call by Bank Employees’ Federation, staff of various nationalised banks staged protests, urging for the fulfillment of various demands. The banks did not function on Tuesday.
Staff of SBM, SBI, Canara Bank and other banks took part in the protest meet held in front of Canara Bank (main) branch in Chikkamagaluru. They demanded salary revision, urged to drop the ideas of merging of SBI’s subsidiaries and withdraw the plan of privatisation of banks. They raised slogans against the Central government on the occasion.
The protestors also urged to recruit staff for banks. Serious legal action must be initiated against willful cheating and actions should be taken for the recovery of default cases.
The additional charges incurred due to demonetisation should be borne by the government itself, they said. The directors should be appointed immediately. Positive actions should be taken towards bank bank employees’ pension. Income Tax on gratuity amount should be scrapped. Banking services should be limited to five days in a week, they demanded.
As bank transactions came to a standstill on the day, the customers had to struggle to withdraw money and more people were seen at ATMs. As a result, most of the machines ran out of currency. People from rural areas who were unaware of the stir, returned after looking at the closed doors of banks.
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