TN: Bank Employees Resolve to Resist Privatisation of PSBs

Chennai: Bank employees, gathered for a union conference here, resolved to oppose any move by the Centre to hand over government assets to private players in the name of monetisation.

At the 13th Tamil Nadu State Conference of the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) in Salem district on December 18 and 19, several resolutions were passed opposing policies of the Union government.

The BEFI flag being hoisted at the conference in Salem.
 

“The banks usurp money from customers for not maintaining minimum balance in their accounts. State Bank of India alone has generated more than Rs 1,000 crore” Rajagopal, the outgoing secretary of BEFI, Tamil Nadu, told mediapersons on the sidelines of the conference, adding: “Meanwhile, the government has written off loans for Adani, Ambani and other big capitalists to the tune of Rs 10.50 lakh crore in the last five years. A portion of the waived off sum is collected from salaried people and wage workers like you and me in the name of service fee”.

A cultural performance ahead of the conference.

The conference resolved that “public sector banks, rural banks and cooperative banks should be retained in the public sector to ensure that the hard-earned money of the common people are not plundered”.

The conference also resolved to struggle for demanding permanent jobs for supporting staff, part-time workers and bank agents, who have been working for long periods.

Among the other issues that will be raised by BEFI are fighting for basic and appropriate facilities for women employees, and demand increased maternity leave in line with Central government employees.

On the first day of the conference, a half-day BEFI women's conference was held where the  demands of women workers were placed and adopted.

Women bank employees’ conference.

To fight discrimination, the conference also adopted a resolution demanding reservations for appointments and promotions in banks.

Some of the other resolutions include: control inflation, generate more employment and abandon the contract-casual system of employment.

Members of the newly elected committee.

The conference elected a 40-member state committee with a 25-member secretariat. Sunil Kumar was elected as the state president, Ravi Kumar as the general secretary and Lakshmi Narayanan as treasurer. Two-fifty delegates participated in the general conference and 60 in the women's conference.

With inputs and photos from Prakash R.