Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005
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By Our Staff Correspondent
NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. Banking transactions across the country came to a virtual standstill with over 10 lakh officers and employees of public, private sector, cooperative and rural banks abstaining from work to protest against the proposed merger of public sector banks and increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Describing the strike as a "grand success," V.K. Gupta, convener of the United Forum of Bank Unions which is spearheading the agitation, said the Forum was demanding immediate corrective measures to avoid further escalation of agitations in the banking industry. Mr. Gupta said the Forum, a conglomerate of nine banking organisations, felt that the move to merge public sector banks and allow foreigners take over private banks was against the country's interest.
Echo in Lok Sabha
An echo of the strike was also heard in the Lok Sabha during zero hour with the Left parties demanding a clear-cut statement from the Government on whether it was going ahead with the proposed reforms in the banking sector. The issue was raised by Amitava Nandy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a number of members from the Left benches joined in. Stating that the strike could well turn into a prolonged agitation, Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India asked the Government why it was "inviting a confrontation with the trade unions and bank employees." Cautioning the Government against taking some of its supporting parties for granted, Mr. Dasgupta drew the ire of the National Democratic Alliance with his comment that "if the United Progressive Alliance follows the same footsteps as the previous government, then we shall confront you in Parliament and on the streets." With V.K. Malhotra of the Bharatiya Janata Party objecting to this remark about the NDA regime, the House witnessed a short disruption as the Opposition traded charges with the Left members. In a statement, Mr. Gupta said the resources mobilised domestically should be utilised for the welfare of the common man. The handing over of the private banks to foreign operators would affect economic development since the priority lending as well as the credit deposit ratio was bound to be affected. The ATM facilities of several private banks were affected but banks such as the ICICI Bank, ABM-Amro and Citibank functioned normally. "The public sector banks have accounted exceedingly well for themselves during the past few years. They have cleaned up their balance sheets and are not so large in numbers when compared to western countries. Hence, the question of reducing the number of banks to manageable level and creating a large base is totally misleading," Mr. Gupta said. The unions that participated in the strike included the All-India Bank Employees Association, the Bank Employees Federation of India, the Indian National Bank Employees Federation, the National Organisation of Bank Workers, the National Organisation of Bank Officers, the All-India Bank Officers Confederation and the National Confederation of Bank Employees. Several Central Trade Unions, including the All-India Trade Union Congress, expressed solidarity with the agitating bank employees.
* * * ATMs not spared If you thought you would beat the bank strike by transacting your scheduled business from the cool climes of an ATM, chances are that you are a little wiser now. The bank unions have discovered this loophole of late, and decided to plug it to the best of their capabilities, making a 24-hour strike in the banking sector truly "total." Ashok Dutta, convener, United Forum of Bank Unions (West Bengal unit) told The Hindu that picketing had been organised at many of the ATMs in urban areas. "All the ATMs adjacent to the banks are closed along with most of the stand-alone kiosks within the city," he said. The only ATMs that appeared to have escaped the unions' dragnet were those located in far-flung areas since the unions were not able to muster enough men to cover the entire ATM network.
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