The United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), Manipur State carried out a sit-in protest at the premises of State Bank of India, MG Avenue branch on Monday as a part of nationwide general strike called by United Forum of Bank Union against the privatisation of public sector banks (PSB) and retrograde banking reforms.
PSBs play important roles in boosting the economy and bringing development in the country, and their contributions in making the country become self-sufficient is immense as they play pivotal roles in all revolutions like green, blue, white etc., said convenor UFBU, Manipur L Maipak Meetei while speaking to the media at the sidelines of the protest.
Instead of strengthening the PSBs, the government is trying to weaken it by starving them of the required capital, human resources, through disinvestment and the proposed privatisation, he said, adding that the weakening of PSBs is an unwarranted, unjustified and regressive step.
He further said that they have been demanding stringent measures to recover the large corporate stressed assets including strong recovery laws and taking criminal action against willful defaulters. But the government has not exhibited its firm willingness to implement them, he said.
On the other hand, the government is seriously continuing the retrograde reform measures by ignoring the real menace in the banking industry such as mounting bad loans and growing list of willful defaulters, he added. Mentioning that the present condition of the banking sector has compelled them to conduct protests, he drew attention of government and bank management on the matter.
It may be mentioned that United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) is an apex body consisting of nine banks unions. They are All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) and the National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).