STAFF AND employees of Punjab National Bank will remain on a nation-wide strike on July 28 to protest against the outsourcing and privatisation policies of the Central government. The strike is part of a protest launched by the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), against the government’s faulty policies.
Punjab National Bank Staff Association secretary Shashikant Srivastava said the government was forcing banks towards privatisation by hiring private agencies for various banking activities.
The government should stop taking services of a private agency, the ‘National Payment Corporation’, to clear cheques of the bank’s clearinghouse. Privatisation would harm the interest of customers who open account in national banks due to its confidential operating system, he said.
“There is also demand to scrap the provision 12 (2) in the Banking Regulation Act. Government should fill 1 lakh posts lying vacant in different banks, as it is seriously affecting customer service,” he added. Srivastava said a proposal was also sent to the government regarding the employees’ pension. But the proposal was pending too, he said. A delegation of PNB Staff Association handed over a memorandum to the chief manager, PNB Civil Lines in context of their demands.