Mumbai: The Finance Ministry has asked the states to take immediate steps to protect bank employees from examples of attacks and bullying by anti -social elements, following reports of such incidents that disrupt banking works.In the letter to the Chief Secretaries, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said that ensuring uninterrupted availability of banking services is important to meet homes daily financial needs, reach welfare benefits through DBT and support economic activity by traders, small businesses, farmers and industry.Citing media reports and social media posts, Nagraj flagged off the incidents of harassment by involving oral misconduct, physical attacks and operational disruption in bank branches. He said, “These illegal tasks discourage the morale of bank employees and weaken the public trust in safe delivery of banking services. Such tasks should be firmly and immediately dealt with,” he said.The Ministry has requested the state government to take the district magistrates and police officers to take preventive steps, including deploying police or patrolling at sensitive places during extreme banking hours.
