Maha: 30K bank employees join 2-day all-India strike
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Mar, 2022 04:08 PM
Mumbai, March 28 (IANS) Around 30,000 employees of 7,000 branches of various government, private, foreign and other banks, including 5,000 workers from Mumbai, halted work on the first-day of the two-day nationwide bank strike, organisers said here on Monday.
The bank employees organised demonstrations, sit-in protests, processions and rallies near their workplaces in different cities and towns protesting against the privatisation of banks undertaken by the Centre.
Over 5,000 bank workers carrying banners and placards joined a rally at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai, raising slogans against the government with top union leaders like ex-AIBEA President Suresh Dhopeshwarkar, MSBEF General Secretary Devidas Tuljapurkar, Joint Secretary Devdas Menon, AIBOA Secretary N. Shankar, AIUBEF General Secretary Nandkumar Chavan and others addressing the gathering.
While lauding the employees for their spontaneous response to the strike action, they also expressed regrets to the millions of bank customers for the inconvenience caused by the two-day nationwide agitation.
They explained that the strike was not pertaining to their economic demands or improvements in service condition but to strongly oppose the ongoing bank privatisation programme, which would jeopardise the security of the common man's hard-earned savings.
The organisers further warned that if the government remained adamant and pursued its bank privatisation agenda, all the banking unions will continue to oppose aggressively through more strikes and other forms of protests.
On Tuesday, the second day of the strike, the bank employees plan to move around in the field for a public outreach initiative, connect with the maximum number of people and explain to them the dangers of bank privation, besides soliciting their support against the government's policy.
Simultaneously, the bank unions have taken up an extensive campaign to involve and associate bank depositors, beneficiaries of bank nationalisation and the common masses to join or organise tough resistance against the government policy, said Tuljapurkar.
While complimenting the enforcement officers, he said their hands-on approach has led to large number of seizures in the state of fake and smuggled goods. He was speaking at an interactive session by FICCI CASCADE on the 'Strategies' to combat smuggling and counterfeiting, here.
Cheema was responding the Centre's decision on new rules governing the Chandigarh Administration employees, who are currently working under the Punjab service rules but will now come under the Central Civil Services Rules.
Reacting strongly to the announcement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to bring Chandigarh union territory employees under Central civil services rules, the SAD said, "It is incumbent on the AAP government to make the Centre understand that Chandigarh is a union territory as per an ad-hoc arrangement only.
As per the Commission, as no objection has been lodged with them from anywhere on this issue, no action can be taken in advance in this matter.Starting from the 2022-23 academic year, the state government has decided to add the Hindu religious book to the curriculum of classes 6 to 12.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials carried out raids at 11 places in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in connection with the fake gun licences scam in which Rs 2.78 lakh were issued to non-entitled persons. The ED carried out raids till Thursday evening.
"As the police reached the spot, they found a purple colour traveller bag in which an unknown body of male, 20/22 years old, with throat slit injuries, was stuffed," said the official, adding the body was clad in white kurta pajama.
