Maha Bank staffers defer Nov 16 strike on Ladki Bahin scheme issues; relief for MahaYuti govt

Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS) In a huge relief to the ruling MahaYuti government, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has postponed its planned November 16 Maharashtra-wide strike against the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme after talks with the state and banking industry officials, a top official said here on Wednesday.

UFBU Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar said the banks’ union leaders met with the government officials, the State Level Bankers Committee and others on Tuesday, following which it was decided to temporarily suspend further agitation programmes on the issue.

The UFBU delegation comprised Tuljapurkar, Nilesh Pawar, Naresh Bodalia, and Snehal Patkar, who met senior IAS officers like Dr Anup Kumar and Anand Bhondve in Mantralaya and hammered out the concerns and apprehensions of the banking industry staff after the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme was rolled out in August.

Among the key decisions agreed upon were: All the banks would be asked to enhance security through private agencies for an initial period of three months while the state will direct District Collectors and local police to prioritise the security for bank staffers, particularly those dealing with the ‘Ladki Bahin’

In order to reduce congestion at the branches in the rural areas, the banks shall be advised to deploy ‘Banking Correspondents’ for routine work like Aadhaar Card linking, RKYC, EKYC, Account Opening, etc., and then hold a joint review after Diwali festival to assess the implementation of these measures by all the stakeholders.

“Based on these commitments, the Maharashtra UFBU has decided to put on hold further agitation programmes. The situation would be re-assessed after the planned review meeting. The government has displayed a positive approach in addressing our concerns, so the strike is postponed,” said Tuljapurkar.

Just 10 days ago the UFBU had threatened a statewide strike against the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme, which had created massive chaos in branches all over Maharashtra with hordes of excited women thronging to get themselves registered for the government dole.

The UFBU had highlighted in detail how the bankers were harassed, abused, threatened and even beaten up over various issues pertaining to the 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, or how the local political leaders threw their weight around to gain popularity ahead of the November 20 state Assembly elections and cited multiple examples to bolster its case.

Disgusted by the goings-on and the unplanned implementation of the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme, the bankers had launched a series of small agitations from October 25 as a warm-up to the state-level strike on November 16 -- which is now put on hold after the negotiations -- and proving to be a boon for the MahaYuti regime, with the polls looming ahead.

Nevertheless, the UFBU will continue to keep a close watch on all the banks’ branches on the security aspect vis-a-vis the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme, which has reached over 2.50 crore women in the state, as per the government.