Lakhs Of Govt Bank Officers Will Stop Working To Protest Privatisation: Strike On These Dates

Finance Minister Nirmala had announced the privatization of PSBs as part of a disinvestment exercise to garner Rs 1.75 lakh crore while presenting the Budget for 2021-22 in February.

However, bank officers are not very happy with the proposed privatization and have now announced a nationwide movement against it.

Bank Unions Protest Against Privatization Of Private Sector Banks

The union of bank officers launched a nationwide movement against the proposed privatization of state-owned lenders.

As confirmed in a statement by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), officers and stakeholders from various parts of the country participated in this rally, the “Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Rally” that was held at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

The general secretary of AIBOC, Soumya Datta, addressed the rally and appealed to the government, asking to withdraw the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The bill has been listed for introduction and passing in the winter session of Parliament.

He said, “In case the government tables and passes the bill paving the way for the privatisation of the public sector banks, the bank officers will unite all the stakeholders of the banking sector and launch a nationwide agitation.” 

Union’s Previous Appeal To The President Against Privatization

In June, AIBOA had appealed to the President of India to advise the Council of Ministers to rescind the proposed moves to privatize two public sector banks (PSBs) and undertake strategic disinvestment in IDBI Bank.

The nationalized banks continuously contributed to the growth of the economy in the past 51 years, says the All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA).

Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank are the most probable banks that will be put up for privatization. Two banks and one insurance company have been suggested to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment for privatization. 

Recently, there also has been news about the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accepting bids from corporate-owned shadow lenders such as Bajaj Finance, Shriram Capital, and Cholamandalam Finance, as well as overseas sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in an attempt to expedite the disinvestment of public sector banks (PSBs).

Once approval is done, these changes would make it easy for India Inc. to own banks, which is considered to be a highly controlled area.