The Left MPs were seen protesting in solidarity with the national strike of bank employees. Suspended MPs and other Members of the Parliament protested outside on the Parliament premises, against privatisation and merger plans of Public Sector Banks.
To facilitate privatisation, the government has listed the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, for introduction and passage during the current session of Parliament.
The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the past four years.
Public sector lenders, including State Bank of India, had informed customers that services in their branches might be affected due to the strike. However, the private sector, especially new generation private sector lenders, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, are working as usual.
"The strike is against the government's decision to privatise public sector banks which have been playing a vital role in nation building," (AIBEA) general secretary C H Venkatachalam said PTI.
(with inputs from agencies)
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