7,000 bank branches shut in MP as strike disrupts Rs 5,500 crore business: Association

INDORE: A nationwide bank strike over the demand for implementation of a five-day work week and other pending issues disrupted banking operations at around 7,000 branches across Madhya Pradesh on Friday, affecting daily business estimated at nearly Rs 5,500 crore, a bank employees’ organisation said.

Madhya Pradesh Bank Employees Association chairman Mohankrishna Shukla said around 42,000 bank employees and officers from nearly 7,000 of the state’s 8,707 branches participated in the strike.

Employees of 12 public sector banks, along with those working in various regional rural banks and cooperative banks, joined the nationwide protest, he said.

The strike affected routine banking services across the state, with branches remaining closed and customers facing disruptions in transactions and other services.

The employees are seeking implementation of a five-day working week, along with resolution of several other pending demands.

The nationwide strike has been called by bank employees’ organisations as part of efforts to press the government and the banking authorities to address their long-standing issues.

Shukla said the participation in Madhya Pradesh was significant, with thousands of employees staying away from work in support of the demands.

Banking services are expected to resume normally after the strike ends.