Government committed to work for betterment of every citizen: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Expressing happiness over the conclusion of 10th bipartite wage negotiations between Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and their employees, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government is committed to work for the betterment of every citizen.

"Our government is committed for the betterment of lives of every citizen, including government employees. The 10th bipartite settlement between PSBs and their employees reinforces the government's commitment to better lives and working environment for the people.

"I am indeed happy for every bank employee on his wage hike," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Yesterday, public sector bank employee unions had withdrawn their call for a four-day nationwide strike, with the management agreeing to 15 per cent hike in wages at an extra burden of Rs 4,725 crore per year and acceding to the demand for a holiday on second and fourth Saturdays.

The banks, however, will work full-day on remaining Saturdays instead of the current practice of half-day.

The unions had threatened to go on four-day strike from February 25, demanding 19 per cent hike in wages.

The wage revision would benefit about 8.5 lakh employees and officers in 45 banks, including old generation private sector banks and a few foreign lenders.

Wage revision in PSU banks is done every five years. The previous revision was done in 2007.