Banking transactions worth cr affected on first day of strike

Central Chronicle News
Bhilai, Mar 15: Banking transactions of over Rs 500 crore were affected in the district as the employees of public sector banks went on two-day strike from Monday. More than 100 branches of government banks remained closed on the day in the district. Cheque clearance was badly affected due to the strike. It was the last day for depositing PF contributions for several firms but they were unable to so due to the strike. These firms will have to pay fine for depositing the PF contributions when the banks reopen on March 17. There were few reports of ATMs running out of cash in the city.
It needs to be mentioned here that the bank employees are staging nationwide protest against the government policies of privatisation of public sector banks and retrograde banking reforms. The banks were already closed on March 13 (second Saturday) and March 14 (Sunday). The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) gave call for strike on March 15 and 16 leading to a four-day break in regular bank operations. Almost all the unions and officers associations of public sector banks responded to the UFBU call and resorted to strike on Monday. The bank employees gathered at Indira Place in Civic Centre and took out a bike rally. They covered various areas of the city raising slogans against the union government.
On the other hand, the private banks including Axis Bank, ICICI, HDFC, etc remained open.