Against Proposed Privatisation Of Banks | Press Release by All India Bank Employees’ Association

All India Bank Employees’ Association
Central Office: “Prabhat Nivas” Regn. No.2037
Singapore Plaza, 164, Linghi Chetty Street, Chennai-600001
Phone: 2535 1522 Fax: 2535 8853 M- 984 00 899 20 Web: www.aibea.in
e mail chv.aibea[at]gmail.com 9840089920

Press Release 19-2-2021

By C.H. Venkatachalam, Gen Secretary,
All India Bank Employees Association

Protest Dharna By Bank Unions In All State Capitals Today
Against Proposed Privatisation Of Banks
2 Days Continuous Strike On 15th And 16th March, 2021
We Will Go For Longer Strikes If Govt. Proceeds

Against the decision announced in the Budget that 2 public sector banks will be privatized, 10 lacs of bank employees and officers under the banner of United Forum of Unions consisting of 9 unions AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW, NOBO, are on agitation.

Proposed Privatisation of Public Sector Banks - WE OPPOSE

1. After independence, when our country was suffering from lack of development, the then private banks did not come forward to help in economic development.
2. Hence in 1969, major private banks were nationalized. Since then, Banks have made great strides and played a significant role in our country’s development.
• From 8000 branches in 1969, today we have 100,000 branches, many of them in the villages.
• From 5000 crores of Deposits, today PSBs have 91,00,000 crores of Deposits.
• From 3500 crores of advances today, Banks have given 60,000 crores of loans, main to priority sector upto 40%.
• All the Banks are earning profits. From 2010 to 2020, in 10 years, public sector Banks have earned a total profit of Rs. 14,57,000 crores.
3. The only problem facing Banks is the bad loans. Most of the bad loans are by the corporates and rich industrialists. Instead of taking action on them, Government wants to privatise and hand over the Banks to them.
4. Even today, we are witnessing the condition of private Banks. So many private banks have collapsed in our country. Last year YES Bnk was in troubled and through SBI , LIC, etc. that Bank was rescued. Recently Lakshmi Vilas Bank, another private Bank came into trouble and it has been given to a foreign Bank. We have seen the problems in ICICI Bank. Hence one cannot accept that private sector banking is very efficient.
5. Only public sector Banks give loans to common people, poor people, agriculture, small scale sector, etc. Private Banks help only the big corporates.
6. Public sector Banks given permanent jobs to young unemployed. In private Banks, it is only contract jobs. There will be no reservation in jobs for SC/ST category employees if banks are privatized.
7. Private Banks will not open Branches in rural area. Only public sector banks have opened thousands of branches in the villages. If Banks are privatized, rural branches will be closed in the name of cost saving.
8. Govt. is claiming that crores of poor people have opened their accounts in Banks under Jan Dhan Yojana. Public Sector Banks with 75% of total Branches have opened 40.50 crores of new accounts but private Banks with 25% of the total Branches have opened only 1.25 crores of Jan Dhan Yojana accounts.
9. Only the PSBs are giving education loan to the poor people. Private Banks give education loan only to the rich customers for foreign study.
10. Bulk of the bad loans in the Banks are by the rich corporates and private business houses. Is it safe to hand over our Banks to them?
11. Total Deposits in banking sector today is Rs. 146 lac crores. This is hard earned public savings. We cannot allow private hands top play with this huge public savings.
Hence privatisation is a bad idea.
If the Government is serious about economic development, public sector banks should be strengthened.
In public interest, in people’s interest, in country’s interest, we oppose privatisation of public sector banks.
After today’s Dharna , there will be protest programmes throughout the country for the next 15 days.
On 10th March, 2021, we will hold a protest demonstration before Parliament during the Budget Session.
Thereafter, 10 lac employees and officers of the Banks will observe two days continuous strike on 15th and 16th March, 2021.
If Government proceeds further, we will intensify the agitation and go for prolonged strikes and indefinite strike.
We demand of the Government to reconsider their decision.

C.H. Venkatachalam
General Secretary