Bankers in Pakistan protest to restore Saturday holiday

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 17 (ANI): A string of protests was started by bankers in Pakistan after the decision of newly-elected Prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif to grant only one-day weekly leave to the government offices and banking sectors, reported Dawn newspaper.
The protest was shared widely on various social media platforms and among several WhatsApp groups bank employees. State Bank workers and the state-owned National Bank also took part in the protest.
The angry mob of bankers gathered at D-Chowk, demanded the decision be reverted, calling upon the restoration of Saturday as a weekly off going as far as threatening the government to take the holiday if the decision was not repealed.
An employee of a private bank, Farhan Amjad protested saying that “The government has made an irrational decision,” “Apart from abolishing the Saturday off, they have revised the bank opening time from 10am to 8am in Ramazan,” adding that, “the fact is that there is hardly any client and customer in the first two hours during Ramazan days”.
Another bank employee, Abdullah reported saying, “The issue is that in the banking industry nothing can be left for the next day; all activities including cash handling and deposits, withdrawal, transfers, etc, have to be closed before leaving the branch.” emphasizing that bankers have to reach early and they can’t even leave the place before 5 in the evening, until the work is all done, leaving little time to rest.
On Tuesday, April 12, newly appointed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ordered “one official weekly off” putting a stop to the previous decision by ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan of a two-day weekly leave. (ANI)