Nagpur: Banking operations will be affected today as close to 10 lakh employees of various public sector and some of the private and foreign banks are on a day-long strike 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 September, the government had announced merger of state-owned Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with the larger peer Bank of Baroda.
The merged entity will have a combined business of Rs 14.82 trillion, making it the third largest bank after State Bank of India and HDFC Bank.
The unions are claiming that the merger is not in the interest of banks or their customers and will in fact be detrimental to both.
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, said United Forum of Bank Unions, which has called for the one-day strike.
“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 said.
