The four officers’ unions in the banking sector have written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting that bankers be included in the list of frontline workers who will be administered the Covid-19 vaccine on a priority basis.

The unions, in a letter to the minister, emphasised that bankers have been providing yeoman service ever since the announcement of the Covid-related lockdown and have continued to provide full and required banking services even during the lockdown and thereafter.

The four unions are: the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation, the All India Bank Officers’ Association, the Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers.

Referring to reports of the Government planning to inoculate the frontline Covid Warriors, including those working in healthcare, police, sanitation, etc., the letter said: “The bankers have been instrumental in keeping the wheels of the economy moving despite hazards and constraints. Despite thousands of bankers having contracted the disease and a huge number of fatalities in the sector caused by the contagion, uninterrupted Banking services are being provided by the Banking workforce.”

Published on December 8, 2020