The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has termed a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) internal panel’s recommendation to give banking license to corporate houses as “most retrograde and unwarranted”.

The Association threatened to unleash countrywide agitation and organise repeated strikes if the Government and RBI allow corporate houses to take over banks.

“Our banks hold ₹135 lakh crore of people’s money. RBI is supposed to be the repository of the people’s faith in the banking system but unfortunately, RBI itself is suggesting measures that will endanger the safety of people’s money in the Banks,” CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA, alleged.

He wondered if anyone can forget the past when so many private banks owned and controlled by the corporates and big business houses mismanaged the Banks and innocent people lost their precious savings.

“Can anyone forget the scams of the past where Bank owners became the borrowers too and looted public money? Can anyone agree that the lender (bank) and borrower (corporate house) can be owned by the same people? Will it not lead to conflict of interest and affect good governance?,” Venkatachalam said.

He averred that in the past when the Government wanted the private banks to help the country’s economic development, the ‘patriotic bank owners’ refused to contribute for broad-based economic development.

Venkatachalam emphasised that the safety of peoples money, reaching banking services all over the country, including in rural areas, and giving loans to priority sector are benefits attributable only to nationalised Banks.

Denouncing the recommendations of the RBI Working Group as “provocative”, he urged the Government to reject these proposals. The Government should further strengthen public sector banks in national interest, he added.

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