Kolkata: On Friday, Partha Roy of Northern Avenue went to the nearby SBI branch to withdraw a large sum of money, beyond the ATM withdrawal limit. But he could not do so as the branch was closed. A majority of public sector banks and a large number of private sector banks, along with their ATMs, remained closed on Friday following the strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU). The customers have more pain in store as the banks will remain closed for two more days, as Sept 12 is the second Saturday of the month, followed by Sunday.The UFBU has also vowed to go on strike for three consecutive days from Sept 28 to 30 if its demands are not fulfilled. This would lead to bank closures for five days, as Sept 26 and 27 are Saturday and Sunday, respectively, putting bank customers, especially senior citizens, in a difficult situation.“We generally go to the bank two or three times a month to withdraw interest. For us, it is problematic,” said Prabir Banerjee, a retired teacher.BPBEA chairman Rajen Nagar said more than 85% of banks remained closed on Friday. “For public sector banks, it was more than 90%, and this time, a lot of private banks were also closed,” he added.Ashok Mukherjee, spokesperson for the Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Committee, said the Centre had not been listening to the unions’ demands despite repeated requests. “We are looking at another reconciliation meeting before the next phase of the strike,” he added. Reconciliation meetings generally include representatives of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), Centre and the unions.Balbir Singh, GM of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), West Bengal, said ATMs would function normally on Saturday and Sunday as money would be replenished by vendors.
