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Ludhiana: Banking services hit for 2nd consecutive day amid strike over privatisation of PSBs
Banking services in Ludhiana were hit for the second consecutive day as members of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) continued their strike on Friday as part of a nationwide protest against the decision of the Union government to privatise two public sector banks (PSB)
Banking services in Ludhiana were hit for the second consecutive day as members of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) continued their strike on Friday as part of a nationwide protest against the decision of the Union government to privatise two public sector banks (PSB).
A protest was held by hundreds of bank employees outside the State Bank of India near Fountain Chowk, where they slammed the Union government’s move and alleged that its purpose is to benefit corporate houses. Employees of State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India and Canara Bank among others participated in the strike.
The rally was addressed by president of the Punjab Bank Employees’ Federation PR Mehta, general secretary of Joint Trade Union Council DP Maur, UFBU convenor Naresh Gaur and president of Punjab Bank Employees’ Federation Pawan Thakur among others.
They stated that the protest is being held against the Union government’s plan of tabling the Banking Laws Amendment Bill 2021 in the Parliament.
Mehta said that the only issue being raised against the PSBs is of huge non-performing assets (NPAs), in which the major share is of big corporates. “Successive governments have taken initiatives such as debt recovery tribunals and SARFAESI Act, but these steps have not yielded the desired result. Therefore, the banks were forced to write off those loans, resulting in huge losses. The PSBs have suffered a loss of ₹284,980 crores because of this,” he said.
It is the wilful defaulting of the corporate and big business houses, which have dragged the banks into this crisis, added Mehta.
Gaur said that time and again, PSBs have also been used to bail out ailing private sector banks such as Global Trust Bank, United Western Bank and Bank of Karad, etc. “In the recent past, it was Yes Bank, which was bailed out by SBI. In the recent past, RBL Bank, Bandhan Bank and four small finance banks have also posted losses. RBI has cancelled the license of Subhadra Local Area Bank. The public also fears putting their money in private banks,” he said.
“This will only benefit the corporate defaulters and remove all the bad loans from public glare and silently write them off. Banks and insurance companies deal with people’s money. Privatising them means handing over people’s money to private vested interests,” said Gaur, while adding that the two day-strike was announced to awaken the government from deep slumber and further action will be taken as per the directions received from the banks’ union at national level. The banks will open on Saturday as per the schedule.
Gill MLA Kuldeep Vaid also participated in the protest and assured that the Congress will take up the matter at the state and national levels.
Banking transactions of ₹1,600 crore hit
As per the union members, banking transactions of over 1600 crores were hit in the industrial hub during the two-day strike, due to which the public and industry faced a harrowing time. Gaur stated that banking transactions of over ₹800 crore are witnessed in the city on a daily basis. Industrialists rued that the payments have been delayed and they will have to pay interest on the delayed payments of installments to banks.
