New Mar 15 (IANS): The Congress has extended support to the two-day nationwide bank strike on March 15 and 16 against the privatisation of public sector banks and banking reforms.

"We stand in solidarity with 10 lakh bank officials and staff participating in the strike against reckless privatisation of public sector banks," said Randeep Surjewala, Congress General Secretary.

The strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions, is against the ill placed priorities of the Modi government.

The Congress leader said there is no rationale for selling state owned lenders to private lenders - foreign or domestic. This is yet again a desperate attempt to meet the disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.

The Congress statement said the whole idea of bank nationalisation, a bold step taken by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was to bring banking closer to every Indian. The aim was to make banks and loans available even for those who do not meddle in High Street finance. PSU banks are not just profit-making ventures, they have in the past been used as vehicles of social reforms.

A very large part of our population lives in rural areas and are involved in agriculture. We need public sector banks for outreach and to ensure banking is more accessible to the largest number of population that we have in villages and smaller towns, which aren't high on the priority list of private lenders, the statement said.

The Congress alleged that the government is running away from its responsibility of ensuring better governance in public sector banks by recklessly selling them. What we really need is higher accountability of public sector banks and not their outright sale. Public sector banks have been at the forefront of lending to the priority sectors like public infrastructure and also rural areas which need financing, it added.