Goemkarponn desk
Panaji: The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has given a call for countrywide agitation including two days strike on 15th and 16th March, 2021 against the Government’s proposal to privatize Public Sector Banks and other retrograde Banking Sector Reforms moves as announced in the Budget.
The UFBU strongly opposes the various announcements made in the Budget of the Central Government regarding reform measures like privatization of IDBI Bank and two Public Sector Banks, setting up of Bad Bank, disinvestment in LIC, privatization of one General Insurance Company, allowing FDI in Insurance Sector upto 74%, aggressive disinvestment and sale of public sector undertakings, etc.
Accordingly, UFBU decided that intensive struggle programmes and agitational actions have to be launched to fight back these policies of the Government. Country-wide demonstrations, rallies, dharnas have held in the last two weeks and lakhs of people have signed on-line petition addressed to the H’ble Prime Minister urging upon him not to privatize Public Sector Banks.
The press note issued by the Forum says the Government’s announcement to privatize our public sector banks is totally unfortunate and unwarranted.
The need of the hour is to strengthen public sector Banks.
1) At a time when the country’s economy is sagging and growth rate is sluggish, what is required is to further strengthen public sector banks which are the main engines for economic growth and development. It is an irony that instead, the Government is proposing to privatize and hand over the Government owned Banks to private corporates, most of whom are defaulters of huge bank loans.
2) Government talks of creating more jobs. But privatization of Banks would result in reduction of permanent jobs and employment of more and more contract labour. Existing reservations for SC/ST, Ex-servicemen category employees will be stopped because in private Banks, reservation policy is not applicable. Hence the move is against jobs and job security of these sections of the employees.
3) When the Government has to admit that all their earlier measures like Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs), Asset Recovery Companies (ARCs) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) have not yielded the desired results to recover the bulging bad loans in the Banks, what is required is to tighten the recovery laws and legal provisions including taking criminal actions on the willful defaulters, but it is an irony that the Governments wants Bad Bank to be set up to whitewash the Balance Sheets of Banks to favour the corporate defaulters.
4) IDBI was a DFI – Development Finance Institution. Government changed it as a retail commercial Bank and DFI role was abandoned. It is an irony that now IDBI is sought to be privatized and new DFIs are announced to be set up.
5) Government talks of Atma nirbhar and self-reliance but in the Budget they want to encourage more foreign investments even in core sectors like insurance sector, etc.
6) The retrograde reforms in the financial sector and privatization of the Public Sector Banks would adversely affect the marginalized people, the common people, agricultural sector, MSME, women empowerment, infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, health, education, exports, etc.
“The Budget is full of measures which will not help in development and progress. Public Sector Banks are nation building institutions and have been engine of growth and development. Public Sector Banks are the custodians and guardians of people’s hard-earned savings. Public sector banks needs to be further strengthened and expanded. Hence, UFBU have decided to oppose Government’s proposals through organizational actions. We seek the support of all sections of people as this agitation is in the interest of the people of the country, in the interest of the nation,” they said..