As talks between the government and striking SBI employees failed to make any headway, CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta on Friday requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and find a reasonable solution to the workers' demand without further delay.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dasgupta, who is also General Secretary of the CPI's trade union body All India Trade Union Congress, said the government should not insist on withdrawal of strike by SBI employees and officers as a pre-condition for talks with unions.
"Withdrawal of strike as a pre-condition for discussion was always insisted upon by the previous NDA government. Why should the UPA government follow suit?" the CPI leader asked.
"I am told that Finance minister P Chidambaram does not have time to talk to employees and has made withdrawal of the strike a pre-condition for a discussion. Such a stand is unwarranted," Dasgupta said.
The CPI leader said "If the bank management is ready to agree to the revision why should the government stand in the way?"
"When the government speaks of autonomy in the public sector, it does not allow the bank management to have its own way," Dasgupta said in his letter.
{{/usCountry}}"When the government speaks of autonomy in the public sector, it does not allow the bank management to have its own way," Dasgupta said in his letter.
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