Bank unions defer 2-day strike, normal operations to continue on September 26-27
New Delhi: The Officers' unions of public sector banks have deferred the two-day all-India strike call for banks following an assurance from Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar to address their concerns related to the government's bank merger announcement.
A statement was issued on Monday by the representatives of the four bank unions who met with Rajiv Kumar in New Delhi.
Union leaders claimed that the government has agreed to form a committee to look into their concerns including the mega bank merger announcement.
The four unions of bank officers had earlier threatened to go on a two-day strike to protest against the consolidation of 10 PSBs into four.
A joint statement released by the unions read: "Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar was positive in formation of a committee consisting of all concerned to address the issues arising out of the proposed merger of 10 banks including preserving the identity of all the banks. An appeal was made to us to revisit our strike call in view of the discussions."
"In view of the consideration of the positive and workable solution by the Finance Secretary, the 48 hours strike stands deferred," it said. Citizens can now breathe a sigh of relief as normal banking activity will not be affected.
The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had earlier informed State Bank of India that the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) had called for the all-India strike.
All of the four bank unions called for the strike after the government on August 30 announced a mega merger plan to bring down the total number of PSBs to 12 from 19 in 2017.
Courtesy: www.indiatoday.in
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
