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Journalism of Courage
Bank unions decided to defy the Prime Minister’s call on taking the ‘Swachh Bharat’ mission pledge on Thursday morning.
In separate communications to their members, all the eight major bank unions called upon employees and officers to not attend office on Thursday, a public holiday.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), in its communication to members, said: “We learn that in some banks officers / employees are being directed to attend office tomorrow at 9 AM for pledge taking. Since Swachh Bharat is a voluntary mission, it cannot be forced on anyone that too during festive holidays. Hence we call upon our units that employees / officers need not attend office tomorrow. Be guided accordingly.”
The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation or AIBOC echoed the stance, with a missive from its general secretary to members stating that the confederation “calls upon all its members not to come to their offices on national holiday but join in taking oath through electronic /s ocial media… as we support the objective of the movement and extend full support but are against the way it is being implemented”.
CH Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), the largest and oldest trade union of bank employees in the country, said: “Nobody can be compelled to come to office and take the pledge on a national holiday. If people want to take oath they can take it through social media.”
When contacted on the issue, a Central Bank of India spokesperson said that while officers attended in good numbers, the absence of some of the employees was because of the long weekend. “We saw a good attendance and there were around 150-200 employees who attended the pledge at our central office,” he said.
