Panchayat nomination filing process gets unpleasant hiccup with SBS half-yearly closing

ELECTION COMMISSION INTERVENES, BANK OPENS FOR BUSINESS

GANGTOK, 01 Oct: With aspiring candidates of the Panchayat polls already miffed at the short notice provided by the administration in filing their nominations, especially given the number of holidays the past week had, the closure of the State Bank of Sikkim today only aggravated their situation.
With the bank observing its half-yearly closing day today, many of the candidates who wanted to file their nominations today, the last day for doing so, were almost prevented from doing so as they were unable to get their TDRs from the State Bank of Sikkim. It was only after the State Election Commission intervened and spoke to the Managing Director, SBS, that the bank opened fits branches for the panchayat candidates who could then file their nominations.
As per reports, there was a big crowd outside the Sichey branch of the SBS here this morning. They had arrived to get their TDRs made in order to file their nominations for the panchayat elections. What they found was a bank closed for the day in observance of the half-yearly closing day.
The half-yearly closing day for banks falls on 29 Sept, but since that day was a holiday in Sikkim, SBS decided to observe it on 01 Oct instead [30 Sept was a Sunday]. Interestingly, banks normally take the half-yearly closing on the preceding day when the appointed day is a holiday. As per his norm, SBS should have been closed on 28 Sept, which also would have been inconvenient for panchayat aspirants. Taking this closing day today, allowed the bank a string of four straight days of holidays [with 02 Oct being Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday].
If the bank and its branches had remained closed today, it would have definitely complicated matters, but things did not come to such a pass with the intervention of the State Election Commissioner following which the SBS opened its counters to accommodate the candidates.