Kolkata, Aug 18 (IANS) Officers of the biggest commercial bank in the country, the State Bank of India (SBI), went on a nationwide token strike Monday to protest the government’s decision to merge the State Bank of Saurashtra, an associate bank, with it. “We are opposing the government’s move to merge State Bank of Saurashtra with SBI. These types of mergers are against the interests of common people,” S.K. Haldar, general secretary of the SBI Officers’ Association (Bengal circle), told IANS.

According to him, such mergers reduce the number of branches and jobs, which in turn affect banking services.

The central government July 24 approved the merger, which had been long delayed on account of opposition from various SBI unions.

“This is a token strike. If the government and the bank management do not listen to our demands, we may go for an indefinite strike from September,” Haldar added.

Banking services across the country are likely to get hit with over 80,000 officers in SBI and seven associate banks joining the strike.

The associate banks were established with the specific purpose of providing credit facilities in the interior parts of erstwhile princely states.