Pics: Spoorthi Ullal (Mangaluru) / Umesh Marpalli (Udupi)
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)
Mangaluru, Jul 29: In response to the nationwide strike on Friday on July 29 called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to express its opposition and protest against banking reform measures, particularly the decision to merge associate banks of SBI, the DK unit of UFBU held a protest at State Bank here.
Mangaluru
Udupi
Addressing the protesters, Raghava, secretary of the DK unit of All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) said, "The general public may have a misconception that bank employees' protest is for salary hike. But today our protest is not for salary hike but to protect the public sector banks. These banks are an asset of our nation and our protest is in national interest. The central government in the name of banking reforms is trying to close down the banks.
"Recently the central government has decided to merge the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP), State Bank of Mysore (SBM) and State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) with the SBI. This is the first step and the next step is merging of 27 nationalized banks into six banks. The result will be closing down of branches as there cannot be two branches of the same bank side by side. The merger of banks means closing down of a number of branches and loss of employment in banking. The central government and Indian Banks Association (IBA) is systematically conspiring in this direction," he alleged.
"The reformation of banks can happen only by the recovery of non-performing asset (NPA) loans. We have to question, does the union goverment or IBA has the will to do this? Today we see instances where willful defaulters like VIjay Mallya who owe thousand of crores to banks are absconding from the country under the nose of top investigative agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). We have collectively got a total of Rs 8,000 crore as salary hike and on the other hand, one individual owes Rs 9,000 crore to the bank. Nothing can be more shameful than this. I read in papers today that non-bailable warrant has been issued against. It is shameful that after running away from the country warrant has been issued against him.
"The government is trying to privatise banks in the name of banking reforms. We do not have any confidence that today's protest alone will stop the conspiracy of closing down banks in the name of reforms. Hence I call upon all the bank employees to get ready to fight against the injustice," he urged.
Vincent D'Souza, convenor of DK unit of UFBU, Vishwanath Pai, member of district AIBEA and others were present.