The Trade Union of Bank, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), has threatened to strike work against the recent announced Budget’s proposal for privatizing state-run banks and for setting up the bad bank.
Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, “The government will initiate disinvestment in two more public sector banks (PSBs).”
AIBEA in its statement said, “As regards the Government’s proposal to privatize the banks along with more FDI in the insurance sector, sale of shares of LIC, starting a Bad Bank/ARC, etc. AIBEA will shortly decide agitational programs including strike actions.”
“Bad Loans and NPAs in the banks have been increasing year after year because of corporate defaulters. Instead of taking tough action on them, Government wants to whitewash the balance sheets by shifting these bad loans from the books of the banks to the asset reconstruction company (ARC) or the Bad Bank. Such a bad bank will only benefit the corporate defaulters and remove all the bad loans from public glare and silently write them off, the AIBEA said.
“Privatising them means handing over people’s money to private hands with vested interests,” it added.
