Banking strike to cripple services

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14: With the finance ministry and the bank unions reaching no agreement, despite several rounds of negotiations over t...

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14: With the finance ministry and the bank unions reaching no agreement, despite several rounds of negotiations over the past few days, the country8217;s banking services will come to a halt tomorrow. All told, banks do have a turnover of around Rs 25,000 crore a day 8212; so, if you plan to deposit a cheque, withdraw cash, issue drafts, transfer funds to clear a vital import consignment, and so on, forget it. It just won8217;t happen tomorrow.

It8217;s a one-day strike, but bank unions have threatened that if the Government doesn8217;t kowtow to their demands 8212; that is, give up the idea of reducing the government stake in banks 8212; they8217;ll go on a full-blown strike. The immediate provocation is the Government8217;s decision to introduce a Bill to reduce the equity stakes in banks in the winter session of Parliament, beginning on Monday. Today, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha reiterated that the Government would go ahead with its Bill

Sinha said the unions were 8220;going ahead with their strike and we are going ahead with our Bill. I am prepared to talk to anybody in this regard because I am convinced that their fears are unfounded,8221; he said.

Meanwhile, the union leaders announced that 10.5 lakh employees would strike work on Wednesday in protest against the privatisation moves of the Government,

Later, briefing reporters, Special Secretary Banking Devi Dayal also said the Government had made all efforts to make the unions understand the imperative of dilution of the Government8217;s stake in PSU banks. 8220;To maintain the capital adequacy ratio, the banks need to increase their equity. In the process, the Government8217;s stake will be diluted,8221; he added.Acirc;micro;According to the Delhi convener of the United Forum of Bank Unions UFBU, the umbrella group of nine unions, V K Gupta, as soon as the Government introduced the Bill for carrying out amendments for reducing Government equity from over 51 per cent to 33 per cent, the bank unions would resort to another one-day strike.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, Tarakeswar Chakraborti, said 8220;bank managements are deploying intimidatory tactics to force employees to opt for voluntary retirement scheme VRS through threats of disciplinary actions, transfers and reducing retirement age from 60 to 58.8221;

Many bank unions today held country-wide demonstrations against the Government moves. Employees of nationalised banks demonstrated at several places here today ahead of their strike tomorrow.