B in Maharashtra have planned a uni- fied strike on November 16, preceded by other forms of agitation, in protest against the ‘burden’ on them by the state government’s ‘Chief Minister Ladki Bahin Yojana’, union officials said on Saturday.
The decision was taken by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), according to its state Convenor and veteran banking union leader Devidas Tuljapurkar. Among other things, the UFBU has slammed the government for the lack of planning and coordination between the state gov- ernment and the banks ahead of the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme rollout in August, symbolically during the Rakshabandhan festival. “In the process of imple- mentation of the ‘Ladmi Bahin’ scheme, due to lack of planning and coordination with the banks and the state government, there is chaos in the branches of banks,” said Tuljapurkar, detailing the ground situation. He said that after the scheme was announced, the banks have witnessed a huge rush of women at its branches and counters to open new bank accounts or revive existing ones, for Aadhar Card seeding, converting dormant accounts to operative ones by submitting the KYC documents, etc.
A public sector bank officer in Thane said that in many cases, hundreds of anxious women queued up overnight and camped outside the bank
premises to ensure completing the formalities the next day, not heeding warnings, to ensure their name in the government dole of Rs 1,500/month.
According to UFBU, the banks had levied certain service charges but failed to recover them as many accounts lacked sufficient balance.
This has led to heated quarrels, brawls and fisticuffs between the beneficiaries (‘Ladki Bahin’) and the banking staffers, and some ‘so-called peo- ple’s representatives attempting to exploit the situa- tion. The UFBU referred to a series of such unto- ward incidents all over Maharashtra where the bank employees were harassed, abused and even physically assaulted, as the local leaders attempted to become popular with the ‘Ladki Bahins’ and the voters. Fed up with the goings-on, Tuljapurkar said that the UFBU comprising nine top unions of differ- ent banks in the state will go on a day’s token strike on November 16 (four days before the November 20 elections), demanding the safety and security of the bank staffers and branch assets.