As a move to protest against the merger of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs), around four lakh bank employees across India are all set to go on a two-day nationwide strike on September 26 and September 27. According to the Secretary of the All India Bank Officers' Confederation's (AIBOC), Tamil Nadu unit, R Sekaran, four organizations representing four lakh employees will go on a strike for two days to oppose the merging of the public sector banks, as the move is against the general public. He further accused the centre of taking a 'unilateral action'.

Bankers' demands 

According to reports, the bankers will be demanding their pending wage revision and the reduction in service charges levied by banks on customers. Further, they will also demand to ensure adequate staffing. According to Sekaran, four lakh banking employees will participate in the strike. Along with this, around Rs 48,000 crore worth of transactions will be affected in one day. Speaking about the inconvenience caused to the customers due to the strike, Sekaran stated that they are fighting for the general public. He also stated that they had made several agitations into the matter, but received no avail. He asserted that the public sector banks should continue to exist. 

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Merging of the banks 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 30 had announced the four big Public Sector Bank mergers. According to the government, 10 public sector banks are merged into four parts, as a move to boost the economic reforms. She listed the enhanced network of branches due to the merger. Speaking about the advantages of merging the banks, FM Sitharaman has said that there will be great cost reduction due to network overlaps and cost-saving for the joint ventures among others. India will now have 12 Public Sector Banks from 27 Public Sector Banks after the merger.

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(WITH ANI INPUTS)