Lucknow: Public sector bank officers and employees staged a joint protest outside Punjab National Bank on Ashok Marg in Lucknow on Sunday, demanding the implementation of a five-day banking week, a non-discriminatory Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, and resolution of other pending issues.
Forum District Convenor Anil Srivastava said bank employees had been organising demonstrations, sit-ins, rallies and social media campaigns over the past several months to press for their demands. He said employees had also observed a one-day nationwide strike on January 27, 2026, but the Centre had not accepted their demands.
He said the continued inaction had compelled the forum’s central committee to relaunch its agitation and announce a fresh phase of protests.
Addressing the gathering, Y.K. Arora, State Convenor; D.K. Singh; Laxman Singh; S.K. Sangtani; V.K. Mathur; Sandeep Singh; Ashok Agrawal; Sachin Kesarwani; and Swati Singh, among other bank leaders representing different constituent organisations, warned the Central Government of a prolonged struggle if the demands were not addressed.
Other bank leaders, including U.P. Dubey, R.N. Shukla, Shakeel Ahmed, Vibhakar Kushwaha, Deepak Singh, Abhishek Tiwari and Rajendra Joshi, said employees would continue the movement until their demands were resolved.
The leaders reiterated their demand for a five-day banking week, a fair and non-discriminatory PLI system and settlement of all remaining pending issues affecting bank employees and officers.
Forum Media In-charge Anil Tiwari said a series of further programmes had been announced as part of the renewed agitation. These include an X (formerly Twitter) campaign on August 30, a poster campaign on September 3, wearing black badges on September 8, and a one-day nationwide bank strike on September 11.
The protesters said the upcoming programmes would be intensified if the government failed to initiate meaningful steps towards resolving their demands, warning that the banking workforce was prepared for a sustained nationwide movement.
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