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.
In an apparent embarrassment for Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, his 'elder sister' Suman Tur on Friday described him a 'cruel' for deserting her elderly mother after father's death with an intention to 'grab family property'. She told the media here that Sidhu had abandoned her mother and she passed away on a railway station in 1989.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday demanded transfer of state intelligence officials, including the top brass, who face charges of compromising the security of Punjab and indulging in electoral malpractices to provide "illegal, illegitimate and immoral" help to the ruling Congress.
Due to incessant rains and water logging of fields owing to overflow of nearby natural drains during September-October 2021 in Delhi, crops of farmers have been severely damaged, the Delhi government said in a release, adding that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had taken cognisance of the matter and assessed that a relief package for crop damage was necessary to be provided.
The SKM also reiterated that the name, banner or platform of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will not be used by any political party or candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, scheduled on February 20.
Appearing for the Punjab government, Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram argued that Majithia has gone into hiding after the rejection of his bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and now he is appearing through counsel.
Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.
