Around 10 lakh bank employees on a day-long strike today; say merger not in interest of banks or their customers

New Delhi, Dec 26 (KNN) As many as 10 lakh employees of various public sector and some of the private and foreign banks are on a day-long strike today to protest against the proposed merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda.

The nation-wide strike would impact banking services like deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearances and issuance of demand drafts, among others. 

In the month of September, the Finance Ministry proposed the merger of state-owned Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with the larger peer Bank of Baroda into a single bank as an effort to consolidate the country's banking system.

The merged entity will have a combined business of Rs 14.82 trillion, making it the third largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank. 

Going against the merging idea of government, unions formed by banks employees claimed that the merger is not in the interest of banks or their customers and will in fact be detrimental to both. 

The umbrella organization of nine unions, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) said “The government wants banks to grow in size through this amalgamation but even if all public sector banks are bundled into one, the merged entity cannot find a place among the top 10 globally.”

This merger will see a large number of branches getting closed and customers will have to face hardships as already banks are burdened with the implementation of various government schemes such as Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra, social security insurance, and Prime Minister's housing scheme, among others, the union added.

Last week, around 3.20 lakh bank officers from various state-run banks were on a one-day strike opposing the proposed merge and also seeking immediate wage revision.