Bangalore: The State Bank of India (SBI) employees' strike has not only delayed disbursement of pension and salaries of more than a million customers but also disrupted overall fiscal administration.

The strike, which entered the seventh day on Sunday (the strike was called off later in the day), according to the employees' union, has been due to the "apathy, indifference and casual attitude" of the management to support the demands of the employees, including the pension issues.

Nearly 9,000 branches of the bank have been affected by the strike. "Cheques to be disbursed to pensioners have been held up because State Bank of India is the nodal agency for cheque clearance. Transactions have come to a stand still and alternative clearing arrangements have to made," said A. Rangarajan, a retired bank employee.

Businessman Mukund Manoharan said Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that have become non-functional have added to the anxiety of the bank customers, especially pensioners and the salaried class.

The strike has also forced a cash crunch upon the financial markets.

"It has become difficult to access accounts and withdraw cash. I have been trying to withdraw my salary for the last four days. The SBI helpline said money could be withdrawn from ATMs of associate bank branches with no extra charge. But even that has not been possible," said Roma Singh, an employee of a business process outsourcing firm.

"The SBI card just does not operate. With a wedding round the corner, we are in a fix as to how to get to the locker with the bank now. With the ATMs not functioning, we are left with no cash in hand," said R. Ramamani, a former government official.

The strike has also affected foreign exchange transactions of the bank and its business in the money market, said a bank official.

Shantaraju, general secretary of employees' union, said that intimidation of the employees would not help solve the problem.

The demand for revising pension was pending for 14 years. After 1992, pensions were not revised. "It is not fair to expect employees retiring now to be satisfied with pensions fixed 14 years ago," he said.

The SBI employees went on strike in 1960 and 1969 too. Those strikes lasted 19 and 21 days, respectively.

"The bank employees are firm now. We regret the inconvenience caused to customers during the strike but we have no other option," he said.

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