Banking services in Madhya Pradesh hit as 40,000 employees join strike

Indore: Banking services in Madhya Pradesh were affected on Wednesday as around 40,000 employees of public sector and regional rural banks across 8,700 branches participated in a strike called by trade unions, an association leader said. Normal life in Indore, the commercial capital of the state, remained unimpacted. Public transport and essential services were also not affected.

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A forum of 10 central trade unions has called for a strike for various demands including doing away with the four labour codes, privatisation of PSUs, increasing minimum wages to Rs 26,000 per month, as well as the demands of farmer organisations for MSP for crops based on Swaminathan commission's formula of C2 plus 50 per cent, and loan waiver.

"Around 40,000 employees in about 8,700 bank branches across the state joined the strike. They include staff of 11 public sector banks and some regional rural banks (RRBs)," Madhya Pradesh Bank Employees Association (MPBEA) chairman Mohankrishna Shukla told PTI.

He said the strike affected deposit and withdrawal operations and other services, including cheque settlement, renewal of fixed deposit (FD) schemes, and work related to the government treasury.

Shukla opposed privatisation and disinvestment of public sector banks and demanded immediate recruitment to fill pending vacancies in banks.

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