New Delhi, Aug 22 (ANI): Bank employees in India began a two-day strike on Wednesday to protest against proposed reforms that would ease mergers and allow more private capital in the banking sector.

The strike will involve about one million employees and affect 70,000 bank branches of state-run and some private and foreign banks.

Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of all public and private sector banks too will remain closed.

Gautam Bose, general secretary of the United Forum of Bank Unions, West Bengal unit, said: The UFBU - an umbrella organization of five employee unions and four officer unions of state-run banks in the country - decided to go ahead with the two-day strike as reconciliation talks with the called by chief labour commission in the morning have failed to yield fruit. (ANI)