Ranchi, Mar 20 : Banks in Jharkhand will remain closed for four consecutive days starting March 22 due to a combination of holidays and a strike by bank employees protesting against privatization.
March 22 is a third Saturday holiday, followed by a public holiday on March 23. Bank employees will go on strike on March 24 and 25, affecting banking services across the state. All officers and employees of 12 government banks and rural banks will participate in the nationwide strike, leading to the closure of 3,319 bank branches in Jharkhand.
Banks have also been declared closed on March 31 for Eid and April 1 for Sarhul.
Employees are demanding the implementation of a five-day workweek and have raised concerns over privatization. In a press conference organized by AIBOC in Ranchi, the general public was urged to support the strike. AIBOC State General Secretary Prakash Oraon and Convener ML Singh said the protest is being held to demand adequate recruitment in all cadres, a ban on outsourcing, and the regularization of temporary workers.
Union representatives, including Gautam Ghosh, VP Singh, Kunal Kumar, Shashikant Bharti, Jyotsneshwar Pandey, K Asa Chaudhary, Manish Singh, and Akhilesh Kumar, were present at the press conference.
Merchants may face payment-related difficulties due to the strike, although online payment services will remain available. Authorities have stated that ATMs will remain operational during the strike.
