Saturday, April 8 2006 14:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: With no sign of an early resolution of the indefinite countrywide strike by the State Bank of India employees, the Bihar Government today (Apr 8, 2006) tied up with the Canara Bank, Central Bank of India and Bank of India through the Reserve Bank of India for its day-to-day transactions.

sources that the decision to allow the transactions on behalf of the government through banks, other than the State Bank of India, for a temporary period was taken after a meeting he had with the RBI officials.

''This step has been taken to meet the exigencies arising out of the ongoing indefinite strike,'' Sharma said.

He said that the state government had decided to allow payment of salary and pension in cash, if required, by the drawing and disbursing officers through either of the three banks in cooperation with treasuries and sub-treasuries.

Sharma said that the concerned banks had been requested to issue detailed guidelines for facilitating government transactions smoothly and send information on payment status to the state government on daily basis.

The finance department had issued circulars to all district collectors and treasury officers in their respective jurisdiction.