Government Urges PSB and RRB Staff to Call Off Bank Strikes

The correct answer is Implementation of five-day banking. The United Forum of Bank Unions and some other unions in public sector banks, supported by Regional Rural Banks, raised two principal demands: a five-day working week for banks and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive scheme. The Finance Ministry says the strikes are now about the single demand of a five-day week, which is still being examined.

Withdrawal of the PLI scheme is the trap. It was one of the two original demands, but the Government met it by keeping the scheme in abeyance, so it is no longer pending. The Old Pension Scheme and the merger of Regional Rural Banks are not part of these strikes. A one-day strike was held on 11 September 2026; a three-day strike is set for 28 to 30 September and an indefinite one from 26 October 2026.

The correct answer is 2015. In its appeal of 21 September 2026, the Ministry of Finance recalled that the Government, in the interest of bank employees, declared the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month as holidays for public sector banks in 2015. The remaining Saturdays are working days and, the Ministry said, an important opportunity for many citizens to use banking services.

The other years are distractors. This fact matters because the unions' pending demand, five-day banking, would turn every Saturday into a holiday. The Government's argument is that customers already lose two Saturdays a month, and that the planned strike from 28 to 30 September, next to a weekend and the half-yearly closing on 30 September, would mean an effective five-day shutdown of banking at a sensitive time of the financial year.

The correct answer is 56%. The Staff Welfare Fund is money that public sector banks set aside for the welfare of working and retired staff, covering health expenses, canteen subsidies, sports and cultural activities and educational help. The Finance Ministry listed its 56% increase in August 2024 among the measures taken for bank employees.

The other percentages are distractors. The same list includes other points worth knowing: PSBs recruited about 4,82,800 employees from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26, with recruitment doubling in the last three years; as of 1 July 2026, 95.84% of officer posts and 92% of subordinate/award staff posts were filled; and negotiations on the next Bipartite Settlement began early, aiming to finish before the November 2027 deadline. Bipartite settlements are wage agreements between bank managements and unions.