NEW DELHI, May 13: Bank officers’ union AIBOC on Wednesday urged the government to introduce a five-day work week, citing the need to support the ongoing austerity and energy conservation drive.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, All-India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), the largest organisation representing banks, said: “We respectfully submit that the immediate implementation of a five-day work week in the banking industry merits urgent consideration. This demand is not merely a service condition issue.”
It is a practical, implementable and nationally relevant policy measure that directly advances the objectives of fuel conservation, energy savings, environmental protection, operational efficiency and public convenience, it said.
Banking, unlike many other sectors, cannot fully shift to work-from-home arrangements, it said, adding that branch operations, cash management, customer service, compliance, recovery, field-level financial inclusion and government scheme implementation require the physical presence of officers and employees.
Therefore, where remote working cannot be extensively adopted, rationalising the physical working week becomes the most practical and structured alternative, it said.
The 5-day work week will immediately reduce commuting by lakhs of bank officers and employees across the country. It will also reduce avoidable customer movement to branches for routine services, particularly in urban and semi-urban centres, it said.
The cumulative impact will be substantial: lower consumption of petrol and diesel, reduced traffic congestion, lower electricity usage, reduced operational load on branch infrastructure and a measurable decrease in the carbon footprint of the banking sector, it said.
This measure assumes even greater significance in semi-urban, rural, remote and power-deficient areas, where thousands of bank branches continue to depend on generator sets for uninterrupted operations, it said, adding that these generators consume significant quantities of diesel on every working day.
Implementation of a 5-day work week in banks would be a concrete institutional response to the national call for austerity and responsible resource use, it said.
It would demonstrate that fuel conservation and energy discipline are not limited to individual conduct alone, but can also be advanced through practical reforms in major public-facing service sectors, it added.
The union assured that officers of the banking industry shall continue to discharge their responsibilities with dedication, discipline and national commitment.
Implementation of a 5-day work week will not dilute commitment to customer service, financial inclusion, government schemes or national priorities, it said.
On the contrary, it said, it will strengthen the banking system by making it more efficient, sustainable and aligned with contemporary service delivery models. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
