The banking system in India was disrupted for the second day in a row. More than 900,000 people working in the country's state-owned banks went on strike in protest of the government's decision to privatize the banks.
According to Arab News, the Indian government is reportedly trying to privatize all 12 state-owned banks. These banks control more than 80% of the country's financial transactions.
In March, Finance Minister Nirmala Sethraman announced that two of the banks would be selected for sale this financial year.The government has introduced the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the current winter session to facilitate the privatization process.
The United Forum of Bank Unions believes that the privatization of banks will significantly weaken the Indian economy.
The United Forum of the Union went on strike for two days after talks with the government failed.
"We held talks with the government but the government refused to reassure us, so we had to go on strike," Jatinder Pal Singh, president of the State Bank of India's Officers' Association in Delhi, told Arab News.
He said that state-owned banks were the backbone of the country's economy and financial structure.State-owned banks in India have more than 900,000 employees. (Photo: AFP)
"All the social and economic schemes of the government have been successfully implemented through state-owned banks and they are available all over the country."
He said that if these banks were privatized then our poor and common people would be deprived of banking services. Private sector banks are not concerned about providing services to the people.
Sanjeev Kumar Bandlish, general secretary of the All India State Bank of India Staff Federation, says there is no guarantee that private sector banks will not suffer losses and that the government will "privatize" the people by privatizing state-owned banks Is putting the money in jeopardy.
In March last year, when the private bank Yes Bank faced a financial crisis, the SBP backed it.
The government was due to introduce the amended banking bill in parliament on Friday, but it did not happen. According to local media reports, the government is in talks with the central bank on privatization.Repeated attempts were made to contact the officials of the Ministry of Finance in this regard but they were not available.
New Delhi wants to improve the banking sector to boost government revenue, as it is aware of the effects of the financial crisis caused by the Corona virus epidemic. But it would be a politically dangerous move and could jeopardize the jobs of millions.
Professor Arun Kumar, an experienced economist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, says privatization will lead to more unemployment at a time when the economy is already in crisis and people's incomes are declining.
"The epidemic has shown us how state-owned banks help the underprivileged and the rural population. State-owned banks need to be strengthened rather than weakened."
