Union Strike Looms as Finance Ministry Orders Banks Open on Sunday

The central finance ministry has ordered all public sector and regional banks in the country to stay open on Sunday, September 27, to handle the upcoming bank strike. The Reserve Bank has also approved this move to stop any disruption in banking services for the general public. Both the government and bank managements have asked employees to back out from the strike. Meanwhile, public sector bank employees are firm on going ahead with the strike starting Monday, after a peace meeting led by the deputy chief labour commissioner failed. Unions say they will only rethink the strike if the government decides on their long-standing demand to make the working week five days long, since they only received a routine reply that the matter is under review. The strike is scheduled for September 28, 29, and 30, which falls on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There was deep worry earlier that public sector banks would stay shut for five straight days, counting the previous Saturday and Sunday. A third phase of indefinite strikes is also planned to start from October 26. To keep things running, the government has ordered key bank branches that handle government transactions to stay open on strike days. These branches will run using staff who are not joining the strike and workers from administrative offices. Authorities must ensure that digital systems work fully, and currency chests, clearing centres, and data centres must stay operational. The finance ministry will open a war room to watch strike-related moves, and nodal officers from every bank will join it. Representatives from the home ministry will also be present to handle any law and order issues, and intelligence reports have been sought from states. Customers face several disruptions because of the closure, especially since the strike hits at the end of the month when salaries and pensions are usually paid out. Services that need a bank visit or staff help may get stuck, prompting banks to warn customers to finish such work early. High-value money transfers and cheque clearing should be finished on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. New-age digital services like mobile banking, internet banking, UPI, debit cards, and credit cards will keep running during these days. Since banks will stay shut for about five days, ATM operations may also face problems, and customers should keep this in mind. However, people can still use the services of bank business correspondents during this period.