The State Bank of India Officers’ Association (SBIOA) will continue to spearhead the nationwide mass movement ‘Bank Bachao Desh Bachao’ under the aegis of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), to oppose privatization of public sector banks.
All India State Bank Officers’ Federation general secretary, Soumya Datta, who is in Shillong to attend the 31st Annual General Body Meeting of the SBI Officers Association NE Circle, said, “We want to send a clear message to the government that if it goes ahead and passes the Banking Laws Amendment Act, 2021 the effect will be felt in the ballot boxes of the 2024 elections.”
Datta said that as per media reports, the government is likely to introduce a bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to make amendments to facilitate the privatisation of state-run banks.
“This particular government with the majority that it enjoys in the Lok Sabha can always work out the numbers in the Rajya Sabha. They are likely to bulldoze all opposition arguments or dissents and put in place this bill that will pave the way for bank privatisation,” Datta added.
He said that the bank mergers that took place during the last four years have led to erosion of rural credit. “At present, the data that we have shows that the rural credit share has fallen from Rs 64 to Rs 56 which is a significant number. This means that once again the rural money lenders in the micro-finance organization, etc are replacing public sector banks and regional rural banks as the medium to give loans at exorbitant rates of interest and they are fleecing the common people. They are charging interest at the rate of 3 per cent per month, whereas the public sector banks and regional rural banks give loans to the self-help group at 2-3 per cent per annum which is a big difference,” he said.
According to Datta, the government is targeting the big borrowers who have enjoyed several lakhs and crores from the system. “They want to privatize bank so that when the banks go bust tomorrow, the government will wash its hands off and tell the common man that they are providing them Rs 5 lakh insurance and God knows when it will be paid like the Rs 15 lakh assured after demonetization, where not a single rupee has reached the accounts of the citizens.”
He further said that while private sector banks focuses on maximum profit the public sector banks are fulfilling all social obligations and implementing all the schemes of the government by empowering Self-Help Groups, education loans to needy students, extending KCC and MSME loans at cheaper interest rates to small entrepreneurs, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), etc. to the weaker sections.
Referring to the opening of more than 98 per cent Jan Dhan accounts by public sector banks and regional rural banks, Datta said most of the government’s schemes under Financial Inclusion have been implemented by the public sector and regional rural banks in the country.
Stating that the private sector banks have no obligation to comply with the Central Vigilance Commission guidelines, which will also make the public assets vulnerable, he urged citizens to join the mass movement.
“Farmers had taken out a democratic movement which forced the government to repeal the contentious act. Therefore, we are equally determined to do the same because we are connected to 120 crores of the population. State Bank of India enjoys a customer base of 45 crores and connected virtually to almost all households in the country. This is a people’s movement and the government should take notice,” he said.
