Move to allow Industrial houses to open banks opposed

Source  : The Hindu : 19 Nov 2011

The general secretary of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) C.H. Venkatachalam has said that allowing corporate industrial houses to open private banks of their own would be “ detrimental to the economy of the country.”

Inaugurating the delegate session of the 27th All India Conference of State Bank of Travancore Employees’ Union here on Saturday he said that “Corporate industrial houses in India are known to account for the major share of NPAs in the country. In this backdrop, the Government move to liberalise bank licensing policy to enable the very same industrial houses to open private banks of their own would be detrimental to the economy of the country.”

Wall Street agitation an eye opener

The AIBEA General Secretary cautioned that the ongoing agitation in Wall Street should serve “ as an eye opener to the policy makers of India, who are trying to run the economy and Banks of the country the American way. ”

He has strongly opposed the move of the Central Government to merge banks of regional significance like State Bank of Travancore. The merger would simply mean that such banks would cease to exist, depriving their respective regions of the service rendered by them.

He alleged that the Government is trying to sabotage the bipartite service agreements of Bank employees, prevalent since 1966 through the Khandelwal Committee Report and warned that the Bank Unions would launch a joint struggle against any attempt to implement the same.

The three day conference commenced here with flag hoisting by A. L. Rappai, President of the Union. K. Muraleedharan Pillai, General Secretary of the Union, presented the report.