Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In response to a nationwide strike call, over 7,000 branches of various banks across Madhya Pradesh, including around 500 branches in Bhopal, will remain closed on Friday over the demand for a five-day working week.
Banks will remain closed for three consecutive days as the strike will be followed by the second Saturday and Sunday. Banks will reopen on Monday after the three-day closure.
In addition to implementing a five-day banking week, the other issues include differences over performance-linked incentive (PLI) schemes and several other pending demands, including pension-related issues, adequate recruitment of clerical and sub-staff in banks, abolishing the NPS and implementing the OPS, granting income tax exemption on the additional 4% contribution made by banks towards the NPS, raising the maximum ceiling for gratuity under the Gratuity Act, pension updation, applying uniform DA (Dearness Allowance) to pensions, revising the ex-gratia payment for pensioners who retired prior to November 2022, implementing ex-gratia payments in all private banks, ending the practice of deliberately keeping the posts of workman director and officer director vacant in banks, implementing a ‘Leave Bank’ system and banks bearing the premium for the medical insurance policies of retired employees.
