Aurangabad, March 14:
Banking services in the city will be hit on March 15 and 16 consequent to a nationwide strike called by various bank employees unions under the banner of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to protest the privation of public sector banks.
As the banks remain closed on second Saturdays and Sunday, banking services will remain affected for four days though ATMs will be replenished with cash to enable withdrawals. But other services including cheque clearance will be affected. UFBU convenor (Maharashtra), Devidas Tuljapurkar said that their organisation consisting of 9 bank unions and representing nearly 1 million employees, will go on a two-day strike from Monday. About 50,000 bank employees and officials from more than 10,000 branches in the state of Maharashtra, which handles businesses worth about Rs 30 lakh crore will participate in the strike. The strike is mainly against the government's announcement of privatization of IDBI and two private banks. Considering that it is not possible to organize demonstrations and rallies against the backdrop of the pandemic, bank employees and officials will visit their customers from door to door as well as public representatives and create awareness against privatization.