7,000 bank branches in MP may remain closed:40,000 employees strike today demanding full Saturday holidays; approval of 5-day banking workweek

Bank employees across Madhya Pradesh will observe a strike on Tuesday, demanding a five-day working week in the banking sector. The strike is expected to affect more than 7,000 bank branches in the state, potentially disrupting banking services and transactions worth crores of rupees in a single day. The strike is being called nationwide by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), and bank branches across cities like Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, and Gwalior are expected to display padlocks on their gates. Impact on banking services The strike may severely impact routine banking operations such as check clearing, transactions, and cash withdrawals, and could also lead to a shortage of cash in ATMs. Banks likely to shut in MP According to union officials, employees of major public sector banks including: will participate in the strike. Employees of private sector banks are also expected to join the protest, which may further disrupt banking services. Single demand: 5-day banking week The protesting bank employees are demanding that the central government approve a five-day working week for the banking sector. They want all remaining Saturdays (currently only the second and fourth Saturdays are holidays) to be declared holidays. UFBU’s Madhya Pradesh coordinator V.K. Sharma stated that around 8 lakh bank employees across India—including those from public, private, foreign banks, regional rural banks, and cooperative banks—will participate in the strike. In Madhya Pradesh alone, about 40,000 employees are expected to join. Long-standing demand since 2015 Sharma said that the demand for a five-day work week has been pending for a long time. In the 10th bipartite agreement/7th joint note of 2015, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the central government agreed to declare the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays, while the remaining Saturdays were made working days instead of half-days. At that time, it was assured that the demand to declare all remaining Saturdays as holidays would be considered at an appropriate time, but the issue remained unresolved. In 2022, the government and IBA agreed to discuss the matter with UFBU, with the idea of increasing working hours on weekdays to make other Saturdays holidays. In 2023, it was decided that weekday working hours would be increased by 40 minutes, and remaining Saturdays would be declared holidays. Proposal pending for two years The proposal was formally submitted to the government, but approval has been pending for two years. After receiving no response, UFBU announced a two-day strike on March 24–25, but it was postponed after the government stated that the matter was under active consideration. Despite this assurance, approval has still not been granted, leading to the current strike call.