AIBEA to observe July 19 as day to defend bank nationalisation

The All India Banks Employees' Association (AIBEA) which represents five lakh bank employees, has decided to observe July 19, which is the 45th anniversary of bank nationalisation, as "all India day to defend bank nationalisation and defeat privatisation of public sector banks".

Opposing the NDA government's move to "consolidate" banks and "reform" the banking system, AIBEA general secretary CH Venkatachalam said that such a remedy is "worse than the disease."

"In the name of remedy and improving the banking system, successive governments have been trying to pursue banking reforms measures. All of us know that they wish to privatise banks and hand them back to the private sector in the name of reforms," Venkatachalam said at a meeting here.

"They want to merge banks in the name of global competition and they are eager to grant banking licences to big corporate and business houses. They want to phase out priority sector lending and dilute public sector banks' social banking orientation," he said.

"They want to make banks more urban, elite-oriented and profit-based. They are willing to write-off huge loans of corporates from hard earned profits of public sector banks but want to improve profitability by outsourcing banking jobs on a contract basis. In short, they want to turn the clock back to the pre-1969 days before nationalisation of banks," he said.

Venkatachalam said that instead of such "retrograde" banking reforms, adoption of pro-people banking policies is the need of the hour, so that people's savings are utilised for their welfare.

"National savings should be made available for national development and not for private corporate loot. Banking credit should be for empowering people and not for embezzlement by private companies," he said. 

Stating that "the right to banking" should be made a fundamental right of the people, he demanded that public sector banks should be further strengthened.

He said they should be expanded to make them become vibrant engines for equitable economic growth as well as broad-based development, with more bank branches opened in unbanked villages.

Speaking on behalf of the AIBEA, he demanded that SBI associate banks be freed from the State Bank of India and made independent banks.

More credit should be given to agriculture and other priority sectors to help self-reliance, employment generation, poverty alleviation, rural development, women's empowerment and better infrastructure development, he said.

He said that the PJ Nayak Committee recommendations on banking reforms should not be accepted. Public sector banks should not be privatised or handed over to the private sector and the government's equity capital in public sector banks should not be reduced or diluted, he said.

He demanded that corporate houses should not be given banking licence and efforts to merge or "consolidate" banks should not be encouraged.