Summary:
GURUGRAM: Thousands of employees and officers of the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Wednesday held a demonstration outside their corporate office in Gurugram, where the board meeting to approve its merger with Punjab National Bank (PNB) was being held, in a move to register their protest against the big banks merger that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced. A joint statement from the All India Oriental Bank Employees' Federation (AIOBEF) and All India Oriental Bank Officers' Association (AIOBOA) condemned the merger and said that all employees of OBC sported a black badge under the banner of AIOBEF and AIOBOA on Wednesday as a sign of protest. According to the merger announcement, United Bank of India an OBC are to be merged with PNB. KH Pandey, the convener of the Joint Action Committee of OBC's employees' and officers' union said that August 30 would be remembered as a Black Day in the history of the Indian banking industry. The protesting employees also condemned the fact that while the Central government is merging public sector banks, it is encouraging small private sector banks..