SBI Maharashtra customers face problems

SBI STRIKE IMPACT

After a week-long agitation, State Bank of India (SBI) employees on Monday resumed work, striving hard to restore normalcy in banking operations as customers stood in serpentine queue to withdraw money from their accounts.

Long queues were also noticed at the bank's ATM counters in several locations.

Expressing anguish over the functioning of the country's largest commercial bank, Ravi Kadam, an account holder in State Bank of India's branch in western suburbs, said he had suffered badly in business as he could not withdraw money from his account during the strike resorted by the bank's workers.

However, Ramesh Agnihotri, another account holder said the management was equally responsible for the inconvenience caused to the customers as the bank failed to restore normalcy in banking operations during the strike period.

Meanwhile, claiming normalcy in operations, State Bank of India's Maharashtra circle said its entire branch network in Maharashtra and Goa would function for two additional hours for three days from today to clear the backlog.

"The entire branch network of the bank in Maharashtra and Goa will function to clear the backlog of customer services for additional two hours on April 10, April 11 and April 12," the bank said in a statement here.

"This also applies to those branches which have a weekly off or half-day functioning on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays," it added.

The circle claimed normal functioning of the entire branch network as well as ATM network in both the states.

Employees will work extra hours to clear the backlog, all india SBI staff federation secretary, said P K Patnaik said adding that some of workers had resumed work from last night itself and the whole contingent reported for duty today. As the strike paralysed bank's functioning, few state governments had shifted their transactions temporarily from State Bank of India to other public sector banks.

About 2.10 lakh employees in 9000 branches of the bank across the country had been on an indefinite strike since April 3, in support of their demand seeking higher pension. SBI workers called off their stir yesterday after an agreement with the centre to increase pension benefits at a marathon meeting, called by the finance minister in Delhi.