‘Will continue protest until govt takes back decision’

Bank employees during the strike, in Patiala, on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

On the second day of their two-day national strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions, employees have said that their protest will continue until the government withdraws its proposed privatisation and disinvestment plan.

Speaking to ANI, Nallappa Reddy, a bank employee said, "...We will make sure that the government takes its decision back." Nallappa added that the government is anti-farmers and anti-labour. "Since they came to power, they were only working to hand over the PSU of various fields to corporate companies."

PV Krishna Rao, a central committee member of a bank employees union, said, "In order to cover up the budget deficit, the government is privatising the PSU banks, which played a vital role in the economic development of this nation." Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said not all state-owned banks will be privatised, and that the interest of all employees of such banks will be protected.

‘Privatisation will compromise financial security'
Congress MP Ravneet Singh on Tuesday said privatisation of public sector banks will compromise financial security as private sector banks will extend credit to large businesses and not think about the poor. Singh said former PM Indira Gandhi had nationalised banks to connect poor with banking services. It is the PSU banks that saved the financial sector during the 2008 global financial crisis.

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