If your bank account is in the country’s largest government bank i.e. State Bank of India (SBI), then this news is directly related to your pocket. If you are planning to go to the bank branch tomorrow or in the coming week for any important financial work, then stop. It would be wise to complete all your pending work today itself, because from tomorrow i.e. 23rd May, work in SBI branches is going to be completely halted for 6 consecutive days. This closure will start from 23rd May and continue till 28th May 2026.
Why will the locks remain hanging for six consecutive days?
There is no single reason for this long closure of SBI branches, rather it is a combined effect of this weekend, festival holidays along with the strike of employees. Actually, due to May 23 being the fourth Saturday of the month, there will be a regular holiday. The next day on 24th May is Sunday, a weekly holiday. After the weekend, when the bank is expected to open on Monday, a nationwide strike of SBI staff has been declared from 25 to 26 May. After this, Bakrid festival will be celebrated in most of the states on 27th May, due to which the branches will remain closed. At the same time, on May 28 also, Bakrid holiday will continue in Jammu and Kashmir along with some specific states. In this way, overall a long ‘no-banking’ period of 6 days is being created for the customers.
Why are bank employees taking to the streets?
The most important part of this closure is the strike of bank employees, which will continue from 25 to 26 May. On the call of All India State Bank of India Staff Federation (AISBISF), employees are protesting against 16-point demands. In these demands, emphasis has mainly been laid on protecting the rights of employees and improving the working environment.
The main demands of the employees include deployment of adequate number of armed guards for the security of the branches, making new recruitments to reduce the increasing workload and immediately filling the vacant posts of Class IV (Messenger). Apart from this, there is also a demand to give employees the freedom to choose their fund manager under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), and to stop outsourcing of permanent work to external agencies. The employees also say that the practice of putting pressure on them and selling wrong financial products (mis-selling) to the customers should be stopped with immediate effect. Economic demands ranging from ending inequality in allowances to including all allowances in pension calculations are also a major part of this strike.
Will your financial transactions come to a halt?
It is natural for customers to be upset with the news of bank branches remaining closed for six consecutive days, but there is absolutely no need to panic. Modern banking technology will become your biggest relief during this time. Even if the shutters of the branches remain down, all the online services of SBI will remain fully functional. You can do your work sitting at home through mobile banking, internet banking. With this, money transactions through UPI will continue without any interruption. If you are in dire need of cash, ATM services will also remain operational 24 hours as before. Therefore, use digital mediums so that this closure does not affect your daily activities.
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