Protest against directive on banks

The State unit of All-India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) has protested against the directive to keep bank offices open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Abraham Shaji John, secretary of the State unit of AIBOC, said here that the directive infringed upon the religious rights of Christian bank officers and employees. The directive is learnt to have been issued by the Ministry of Finance through the Reserve Bank of India, citing exigencies associated with banking formalities getting bunched up at the end of the financial year. But John said the directive fails to appreciate the sentiments of the Christian minority, which could have been avoided with some advance planning. He urged the Centre and the Reserve Bank to withdraw the directive with immediate effect. –