Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (PH)
Udupi, Oct 22: A protest was held by All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) of Udupi district against the central government move to merge banks at Corporation Bank zonal office, Udupi on Tuesday, October 22.
Addressing the protesters, Premanath Poojary, State Joint-Secretary of Syndicate Bank said, “After the merging process, 6,950 SBI banks have been closed and 50,000 employees have lost their jobs. Only 10,000 jobs are generated in banks after merger. Lots of pressure is imposed on the bank employees and also on the customers. Customers are pressurized with the service charges. It is really disappointing that Vijaya Bank has been merged with Bank of Baroda and in the coming days Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank and Corporation Bank will be merged with Union Bank of India. The condition of the bank employees is getting worsened day by day and proper customer service is not provided also. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman still states that they have taken a right decision and it is going to be the ultimate. Central government must immediately stop the merger of banks and also see that the corporate loans are recovered soon.”
Ramesh, State Committee member of Syndicate Bank said, “The protest is to express our anger on central government’s decision regarding merging of banks. Haji Abdulla’s Corporation Bank, TMA Pai, Upendra Pai and Vaman Srinivas Kudva’s Syndicate bank will no longer be seen with the same names. Central government is hurting them and also the employees of the bank and is playing with their sentiments. When a bank merges with another bank, it leads to closure of branches which further leads to privatization of banks and ultimately these banks will be under the corporates. The corporates are looting the banks today and the central government is violating the labour laws.”
Organizations district president Ram Mohan said, “Before 1969 people were dependent on moneylenders and landlords for money. Nationalized banks came into existence after 1961. Protest against the merging of banks has begun from September 26 in Udupi and later on a protest was held in Mangaluru on October 18, where employees, Central Trade Union and public participated in the protest. Central government has no moral rights to play with the emotions of the people. Central government has never expressed its view for the basis for merging the banks. Employment is not generated because of merging of banks. Instead of merging, the government must see that expansion of bank branches is done. Even today many villages do not have banking facilities.”
Premanath Poojary from Syndicate Bank, Nityanand from Karnataka Bank, Ramakrishna Ballal from Corporation Bank, Ravindra from BEFI, Varadaraj from Canara Bank, Nagesh Nayak, Ramesh, Manoj Kumar and Jayan Malpe from Syndicate Bank were present. Gurudatt from Bank of Baroda, Suraj from UCO bank, and General Secretary of Udupi District Bank Employees Association Herald D’Souza were present in the protest. Many employees from different banks participated in the protest.