Banks' privatisation counter-productive: UFBU

Visakhapatnam: DECISION to privatise public sector banks is part of a gameplan to hand them over to corporates on a golden platter by waiving off the non-performing assets, said A Sushma, deputy general secretary, SBI Staff Union, Amaravati Circle.

"The decision is counter-productive and will not help in any way in contributing to the national economy. Rather it will lead to job insecurity with the private parties, post-acquisition likely to go for closing down of loss-making bank branches and downsizing permanent employees," Sushma, Visakhapatnam chapter convener of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) told Bizz Buzz on Wednesday.

Members of UFBU include All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), Bank Employees' Confederation of India (BEFI) and All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA). She said the BJP-led NDA Government was dancing to the tune of big corporates to clean up the balance sheets of the banks by waiving off NPA, which now stands at Rs 9 lakh crore.

"Most of these loans are taken by big shots close to the corridors of power. The banks on the whole will perform better if there is no political interference in their functioning," she observed.

According to unconfirmed reports, four banks have been identified for privatisation during 2021-22.

At the time of the Budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the banks would be selected in consultation with NITI Aayog.

UFBU, an umbrella organisation for nine unions has called for an all India strike on March 15 and 16 in protest against the decision on privatisation.

Sushma said the amalgamation of banks, as well as general insurance companies, was aimed at making the job easy for their privatisation in phases.

"In fact, the government wants to merge all public sector banks into five mega entities and privatise them one after another in phases," she alleged.

On NPA, she said schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to give loans up to Rs 10 lakh without any hassles to micro units and loans sanctioned to businessmen due to political intervention were leading to defaulting in repayment of instalments. She said stringent measures should be taken including criminal prosecution and auction of properties against those who fail to pay the dues on time.

The private banks would not have any commitment for financial inclusion and commitment for the welfare of the communities, she remarked.