A meeting of the Office Bearers of AIBEA was held through virtual mode on 10th June, 2021. Com. Rajen Nagar, President, presided over the meeting.
Condolence: The meeting observed a minute’s silence to pay homage to Com. Amrit Lal and other leaders/personalities who passed away during the recent months.
Moves of privatisation – Be prepared for actions: The meeting took note of the recent media news about reported recommendations by Niti Aayog on privatisation of two Banks and the anxiety amongst the employees on account of the same. The meeting also observed that given the known policy approach of the present Government, such news items should not be ignored but at the same time, we should look out for authentic information about the moves of the Government so that organizationally we can react. Meeting also decided to discuss the issue at UFBU level to take further programmes and intensified actions.
52nd Anniversary of Bank Nationalisation: 19th July, 2021 marks the 52nd Anniversary of Bank Nationalisation. All our units and members are aware of the current developments in our banking sector. Besides attempts to privatise our Banks, we also observe that Government is not willing to take any tough measures against the big corporate defaulters. More and more concessions are given to them. Provisions for bad loans are overtaking the profits earned by the Banks. Much trumpeted IBC is also not helping to recover corporate NPAs, rather, it is resulting in more and more haircuts for the Banks. Government wants to whitewash the Balance Sheets of Banks by starting a Bad Bank/Asset Reconstruction Company to transfer the bad loans from the books of the Banks.
Condition of private Banks is also not good. We have seen how LVB was overnight handed over the DBS Bank. The much-hyped Yes Bank had to be bailed out by SBI. Co-op. Banks also need to be strengthened to enable them to play their effective role. We are also demanding that RRBs be taken over by the Sponsor Banks. On the other side, interest rate on Deposits is being reduced and service charges are being increased to burden the common banking public.
To highlight all these issues and our demands, it has been decided to undertake a campaign during the entire month of July, 2021 focusing our slogan People’s money for People’s Welfare and demanding a vibrant banking system in our country.
Compassionate ground Appointments in Banks: We have been pursuing the issue with IBA to advice the Banks to expedite compassionate ground appointments, particularly to the families of employees who have lost their lives due to covid-19 infection. IBA has given its Advisory Circular to all the Banks. Meeting decided to study the scheme/norms being followed in different Banks and to seek suitable improvements in the Scheme. A Sub-Committee was set up for this purpose with Com. Ajay Manjrekar, Com. K S Krishna and Com S D Srinivasan as members.
Continuous 9 Days Strike by Business Correspondents of PNB in West Bengal: The meeting congratulated BPBEA and Bank Mitras/ Business Correspondents of Punjab National Bank in West Bengal for observing continuous strike for 9 days demanding regular and full payment of remuneration and commission every month, implementation of Covid-19 SOP and adequate compensation for Covid victim Bank Mitras, Opposing reduction in commission, unfair treatment and undue threats by field supervisors off and on, stoppage of devise machine on flimsy grounds frequently etc.
With greetings,
Yours comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM GENERAL SECRETARY