Banking operations partially hit in city as SBI stays away from nation-wide stir

Chennai:

Banking operations was partially hit in the city following the nationwide strike by public sector and private bank employees even as India’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India stayed away from the protest on Thursday.

The nationwide strike was called by Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association against a bill that sought to increase the ceiling on voting rights of the public sector banks from one per cent to 10 per cent and that of the private sector from 10 per cent to 26 per cent, said BEFI general secretary C P Krishnan.

The stir was also backed by the private sector banks, who feel the move to enhance the ceiling on voting rights upto 26 per cent in private sector banks in the background of foreign direct investment being allowed up to 74 per cent will virtually allow these banks to be taken over the giant foreign banks, said Karur Vysya Bank Employees president P Viswanathan.

Viswanathan said that State Bank of India’s unions National Confederation of Bank Employees as well as All India Bank Officers Association extended moral support to the nationwide stir.

Interestingly, this is the fifth nationwide strike by the bank employees. Krishnan said the clearing house operations came to a grinding halt in 65,000 branches of public and private sector banks in the country.

He also said that demonstrations were held in Chennai, kanchipuram and Vellore against the alleged anti-people banking bills.

A SBI spokesman told Express that all the SBI branches functioned normally. SBI has nearly 16,000 branches and two lakh employees and officers who did not join the strike.

Krishnan said the provision of the banking bills are clearly aimed to weaken the government control over the public sector banks. “Five corporates forming a cartel among them can have the virtual control of the nationalized banks while the name board remaining ‘A Government of India undertaking’,” he alleged.

He said despite the excellent service rendered by public sector banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks , more than 50 crore of population do not have bank account,. 85 pc have no access to bank credit, 95 per cent of the villages do not have a bank branch. Krishnan also urged for the expansion of the public sector banking industry to the rural India.