Indian Banks Strike For 2 Days Against Privatisation
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured that not all banks will be privatised and wherever it happens, the interest of the employees will be protected.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced during the budget presentation last month that the government will privatise two more public sector banks. The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling 51% stake to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years. Unhappy with this, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) is a Union for 9 banks of India. They had called a two day strike on 15th & 16th of March. Since 13th March was a second saturday and 14th was a sunday, Banks were not functioning for 4 days straight. Almost 10 lakh bank employees joined the protest and banking services were disrupted in several parts of the country. The Union has said that if the Central Government government does not stop privatisation, the protests will continue similar to the farmer protests.
Addressing the media, Nirmala Sitharaman has assured that not all banks will be privatised and wherever it happens, the interest of the employees will be protected. She said, “"The decision of Privatization is a well thought out decision. We want Banks to become stronger so that India can develop. Those banks which are likely to get privatised, the interest of every staff member will be protected at all costs.”
