Nationwide strike partially impacts banking operations on second day

Banking services were partially affected for the second day Wednesday, as a section of PSU bank employees came in support of the nation-wide strike call given by 10 central trade unions against the alleged anti-labour policies of the government. All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees' Federation of India (BEFI) have supported the strike, which has impacted banking operation where these two unions are strong.

However, the operation in SBI and private sector banks remained unaffected as other seven unions in the banking sector are not part of the strike. According to AIBEA General Secretary C H Vekatchalam, cash transactions, clearance of cheques, remittances, bills discounting and foreign exchange transactions were impacted. Cheques worth about Rs 20,000 crore could not be cleared by the clearing houses all over the country yesterday, he claimed. Many public sector banks had already informed their customers about likely impact on services if strike materialises.