5 Day Week in Banks: Is the rule of only five days of work and two days off going to be implemented in banks in the coming days? In response to a question asked in Parliament, the government has given important information about this long-standing demand. Let’s know what the government answered
5 Day Week in Banks: Bank employees unions have been demanding 5-day working from the government for a long time. This means that like private companies, banks should also have a holiday every Saturday and Sunday. Regarding this, the government was once again asked this question in Parliament that is the government going to approve 5-day working for banks? Or is there a delay in implementing it due to lack of employees in banks? On behalf of the government, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has given clarification in this regard.
At present, government banks (PSBs) have a holiday only on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, while work is done normally on the remaining Saturdays. But is this arrangement going to change in the coming days? The Finance Ministry has recently given a written answer to this question in the Lok Sabha.
Government gave answer in Parliament
The Finance Ministry, in a written reply to a question asked by an MP on 28 July 2025, said that it has received a proposal from the organizations of bank employees and officers to keep banks closed every Saturday. The government said that the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA) have jointly proposed to the government that banks should be kept closed on all Saturdays. These organizations say that this will improve the working capacity and working environment of the employees.
In fact, MP KC Venugopal asked the government several questions about this proposal in Parliament. These included whether the government is considering this proposal, whether staff shortage is the reason for this and if the proposal is to be implemented, what will be its timeline? The government replied that bank organizations have proposed to declare every Saturday as a holiday. In 2015, after the 10th bilateral agreement, the government declared the second and fourth Saturdays as public holidays under Section 25. Now the new proposal is under consideration, but it has not been approved yet.
Is there a shortage of staff in banks
A question was also asked in Parliament whether the proposal of a five-day work week is stuck due to a shortage of banking staff? Responding to this, Minister Pankaj Chaudhary said that this is not the case. He said that as of March 31, 2025, 96 percent of the staff is deployed in public sector banks. The remaining 4 percent shortage occurs due to retirement, resignation and other unplanned exits, which is a natural process.
