Banking unions claim Ladki Bahin is operating ‘unsafely’

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organization of nine unions representing bank employees, has called for a strike across Maharashtra on November 16 to protest the alleged ‘unsafe working environment’ due to harassment and assault by some of the beneficiaries of Ladki Bahin Yojana.
“There is total chaos in the banks during the implementation of the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme due to lack of planning and communication on the part of the government. Overall, there is an atmosphere of fear among bank employees. Therefore, we have decided to express our concerns by observing a day-long strike,” said UFBU state president Devidas Tuljapurkar, calling for adequate security and additional manpower for the banks.
He cited a series of incidents in Beed, Jalna, Latur, Dhule and Pune where bank employees were harassed, assaulted and even assaulted by beneficiaries of the scheme and local netas. UFBU claimed that there has been a huge rush at bank counters for opening new accounts, linking Aadhaar and activating non-working accounts for the scheme.
“As the monthly support from the ‘Ladki Bahin’ program is credited to bank accounts, the service charges are automatically debited based on the system settings. This has led to friction between account holders and bank staff. It has been discovered that a section of local netas are fueling the fire. by threatening and intimidating bank employees through no fault of their own,” Tuljapurkar said.
State Minister Atul Save said the banking unions should hold talks with the government before taking extreme measures. “We are willing to discuss the concerns of bank employees.”