BHOPAL: The bankers have now begun to raise awareness among the people how privatization would affect the public in general who have their accounts in public-sector banks, said the coordinator of the united forum of bankers’ association VK Sharma while talking to Free Press.
On the second day of strike, the bankers staged protests outside their respective banks as they did not have permission to stage a public gathering in view of covid-19 resurge. They held a camp where they explained to their customers the consequences of the proposed privatization.
While the business of over Rs 3,000 crore remained affected on the second day of strike in Bhopal, the bankers staging protest urged their customers to lend them support in their movement and to rest assured as the services would resume from Saturday.
Sharma said, “The next step of the protest would be raising awareness about the harm that would be done to the money of the people. This movement is not just ours, but of 130 crore Indians who have their money in the banks, with a belief that their hard-earned money is safe.”
The bankers told the customers the drawbacks of Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill at the camps outside their head offices.
Sanjeev Sablok, the convener of the union, said, “The bill that government has proposed is regressive and against the welfare of the people. India has progressed and prospered because of the public-sector banks and private banks have a history of looting people’s money.”
“Privatising the PSBs would lead to the downfall of every small business that is surviving on the government’s schemes that only and only PSBs can afford to run and maintain. Agriculture, that has progressed because of loans from PSBs, marginalized children who can now afford to study, daily wagers who can still dream to give their families a good and fulfilling life, will all go down if the government privatizes the PSBs,” he added.
Arun Bhogilal, an office-bearer of the union, said, “Banking industry has about Rs 157 lakh crore, and most of it are the savings of middle class and lower class people. There will be no guarantee of its safety once banks are privatized. Most of the money in the bank is stuck due to bad loans from corporate houses. They would buy the shares of the banks during their privatization and become owners instead of being defaulters.”
“About Rs 4,50,000 crore was stuck in bad loans from 13 industrial houses. They looted the people’s money as they failed to repay the entire amount. PSBs had to suffer large haircuts, leading to huge losses,” he added.
Not one PSB has ever gone bankrupt unlike several private banks, said Bhogilal. The bankers have urged the public to understand how their money would be looted after the privatization and to lend them support in their movement. The bankers have promised their customers they would not have to suffer anymore during the movement.
