A two-day strike by employees of public sector banks(PSBs) since Thursday has disrupted banking services across the country – and for four days at a stretch in some places/states. The impact that the national economy suffers as a result of this could be deep and painful. The protest is against the central government move to privatize some PSBs as announced by finance minister Nirmala in the Union Budget 2021. A Bill to this effect is being brought to parliament, under which two major PSBs would be privatized this fiscal as part of the government’s Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment initiative. The government’s minimum shareholdings in these banks will thus reduce from 51 to 26 per cent. The Centre’s plea to the Union Forum of Banking Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine entities, has gone unheeded.
The government had gone ahead with disinvestment plans in the aviation sector, and Air India went into the hands of the Tata Group two months ago. What is common with both Air India and several PSUs are that years of bureaucratic and political mismanagement had turned them red, crippled, and the exchequer was pumping huge sums to make them stand erect, fly or functional. The bad debts or NPAs of PSBs mounted to as high as Rs 10 lakh crore some years ago and the fire-fighting by the Modi government since it came to power had only limited positive impact. Though some of these bad debts were caused by business downturn, many were virtual loot. Vijay Mallya’s aviation business in the form of Kingfisher Airline was a flop. At the same time, he was wallowing in wealth from the liquor business. Those like Mallya, diamond merchant Nirav Modi or Mehul Choksi with loads of wealth have all taken sanctuary in tax havens abroad. They are smarter than the establishment here or its investigation agencies. Ordinary taxpayers filling the government coffers are the ultimate losers. The sweat of ordinary Indians has turned into their ill-gotten wealth. It is also well-established that top guns in the banking sector facilitated such outright loot.
The much hailed socialistic decision by Indira Gandhi to nationalize nine private sector banks ultimately and over the years proved, in part, to be the nation’s undoing. Business isn’t the government’s business. Banking sector employees, well-fed and well-paid, are fancying two-day strikes close to weekends, turning these into four-day “holidays” — and frequently so, for better pay and to press for other unending “demands”. All these indulgences only go to reaffirm what a weak leadership we as a nation now have.
