Bank employees union calls for nationwide strike on Aug 29

Vadodara: An umbrella body of bank unions has called for a nationwide strike on August 29 to protest against the government's banking reforms.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), representing nine unions who count 10 lakh bank officers and employees as members, will go on strike on August 29, All India Bank Employees Association General Secretary C H Venkatchalam said in a statement issued here.

The decision was taken at an UFBU meeting held yesterday in Hyderabad, he said.

"Since the government proposes to go ahead with the banking reforms measures like weakening public sector banks, inadequate capital to public sector banks, consolidation and merger of banks, sanction of more licences to private corporate companies, privatisation of IDBI Bank and allowing more private capital in Regional Rural Banks, UFBU has decided to express its protest," he said.

He said such reform measures favouring the corporates are being carried out even as banks are saddled with high proportion of bad loans of over Rs 10 trillion, a bulk of which are by corporate entities.

Demanding criminal action against defaulters, he questioned why the government and the RBI are not publishing the names of over 7,000 wilful defaulters who owe over Rs 60,000 crore.