New Delhi, Sept 16 : Several banks across the country will remain closed for four days – from September 26 to September 29 – due to strikes and holidays. The strike has been called by All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) following the recent government announcement to merge 10 public sector banks into four.
These banking unions have announced to observe a two-day strike between September 26 and September 27 to protest against the merger. Since September 28 is the last Saturday of the month and September 29 is a Sunday. the hence banks will remain closed on those two days also. It means that banks will remain closed for four days in a row. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on August 30 announced that Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank and United Bank will be merged to become the second-largest PSU Bank in India. Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank will be merged into one entity to be 4th largest PSB, while Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be amalgamated into a single entity to be the 5th largest PSB; and Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank will become one entity to be the 7th largest PSB.
The finance minister further said that the Bank of India and Central Bank of India would remain independent. After the amalgamation, only 12 PSBs will be left in India from the 27 earlier.
