Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Around 40,000 bank employees across Madhya Pradesh went on strike on Tuesday, demanding the implementation of a five-day banking week.
Due to the strike, more than 7,000 bank branches across the state remained closed, affecting banking work worth crores of rupees in a single day.
The strike was called by the United Forum of Bank Unions as part of a nationwide protest. Banks in major cities including Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, and Gwalior remained shut.
Important services like cheque clearing, cash deposits, withdrawals, and branch-level transactions were affected. There is also a possibility of cash shortage in some ATMs due to the strike.
What is it about?
Union leaders said that an agreement was reached between the government and bank unions on March 8, 2024, to introduce a five-day work week. However, even after about 690 days, no final decision has been taken. Because of this delay, bank employees decided to go on strike.
Bank employees in Bhopal gathered near the Punjab National Bank branch in front of the Government Press area in MP Nagar. After taking out a rally, the employees held a public meeting and raised slogans in support of their demand for a five-day work week.
More than 4,000 employees from around 290 bank branches joined the strike in Ujjain. Bank staff gathered near the Canara Bank branch at Cosmos Mall around 11 am.
United Forum of Bank Unions coordinator Vipin Satoria said bank employees from across the country were asked to participate in the strike. He said the main demand is to immediately apply the five-day working rule in banks.
Union officials also shared that digital services were not affected by the strike. UPI, mobile banking, net banking, and ATM services continued to work 24 hours as usual.
The United Forum of Bank Unions said the proposal was formally sent to the government, but approval has been pending for the last two years. Earlier, a two-day strike was planned for March 24 and 25, but it was postponed after the government said the matter was under consideration. Despite this assurance, no approval has been given so far.
Bank unions have been demanding a five-day work week for many years. In 2015, an agreement led to holidays on the second and fourth Saturdays, with full working days on other Saturdays. Later discussions in 2023 agreed to extend weekday working hours and declare all Saturdays as holidays, but the decision is still pending.
Employees from major public sector banks such as State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, and others took part in the strike. Officials and staff from private sector banks also supported the protest, which affected work in those banks as well.
