Kottayam: The Kerala government has directed cooperative banks in the state to function on Saturday and Sunday.
The directive was issued considering the possibility of banks remaining closed for four days, Minister for Cooperation and Registration V N Vasavan said.
Three organisations of bank employees in Kerala are also participating in the two-day nationwide trade union strike on Monday and Tuesday against the Centre's "anti-labour, anti-farmer policies" and the privatisation of public sector enterprises. Saturday and Sunday are bank holidays.
Following the minister's directive, the registrar of cooperatives societies said those cooperative banks that are normally closed on Saturday and Sunday would function as usual on these two days.
Of the nine bank employees' organisations, All India Bank Employees' Association, All India Bank Officers' Association, and Bank Employees' Federation of India have announced their participation in the strike.
Since most bank employees in the state belong to these organisations, the normal functioning of nationalised banks, cooperative banks, grameen banks and private banks' functioning would be affected. New-generation banks, however, are expected to function as normal.
Banks will be open on Wednesday and Thursday after the strike, but banking businesses will be suspended on April 1, the closing day. The normal functioning will resume on April 2.
