Public sector banks set to intensify stir

Striking employees of State Bank of India are planning to increase the ambit of their agitation by enlisting the support of other banks.

"On Tuesday, all the nine unions of public sector banks are meeting to decide on a joint course of action," GD Nadaf, secretary, Association of State Bank of India Officers Federation said. The unions are expecting the government to come back with a proposal for dialogue on Monday.

SBI Chairman A K Purwar today made a fresh appeal to his striking employees to return to work, saying the government was "closely examining" their demands and could take a "review" shortly, but the plea was rejected by the staff.

He said the bank has suffered a "huge" loss and business was going to other banks.

"Huge...unbelievably huge (loss) for the bank, for the people in the bank and the economy," he said as the strike by employees seeking higher pension entered the fifth day today.

"The government has not given serious thought to resolve the issue. The strike will intensify next week if there is no progress towards a solution," Nadaf said. The hearing at the Delhi High Court on the matter will come up for hearing on April 19.

The united forum of banks unions (UFBU), a conglomeration of nine bank unions, today expressed solidarity with the SBI staff and threatened to go on strike if the government does not resolve the matter.

To begin with, the forum would stage a march to Parliament on Monday, UFBU said in a statement.

With Purwar's term set to end on May 31, the unions fear that the issue may get bogged down if it was not resolved quickly.

Meanwhile, ATMs of SBI have started going dry. SBI has around 2,000 ATMs and it handles 19 per cent of deposits and 30 per cent of customers in the banking industry through its 9,000 branches.