Indian Railways has resumed select local train services in Mumbai for people providing essential services, but bank employees are not being allowed to use the service to commute, bank unions said.
Banks are declared as the essential service provider by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and have been providing uninterrupted banking services since the first lockdown announced on March 23.
Western Railway and Central Railway are running selected suburban train services only for essential services as identified by the state government.
"Since the railway authorities have started local trains for the employees from essential service but bank employees have been denied using that service as they are not in the list of essential services," Union Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Maharashtra Convenor Devidas Tujapurkar said.
In a letter written to the chief secretary, Maharashtra government, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation (MSBEF) have requested to allow bank employees to use the suburban train services. "We earnestly request you to please extend this service to the bank employees to enable them to report to their duties regularly. This will also facilitate extending full-fledged banking services to all," the letter said.