Chennai:
The banking industry unions have given a strike call on
September 29, 2005, demanding fast recovery of non performing
assets (NPA), halting the proposal to increase the foreign
direct investment (FDI) and bank mergers.
According
to the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA),
the total NPA in banks and financial institutions as on
31st March 2004, was nearly Rs1 lakh crore and a whopping
Rs70,000 crore of corporate loans have been written off.
Out of the total operating profits of Rs40,000 crore posted
by government banks, nearly Rs14,000 crore have been utilised
for provisioning for bad loans. The union is demanding
an amendment of the Securitisation Act to cover attachment
of personal and private properties of borrowers and the
reduction of NPAs to be made from recoveries and not by
writing them off.
The
AIBEA has also urged the government to stop disinvesting
in its banks to the extent of 49 per cent and also the
move to merge banks. Similarly, the union is against the
government's move to allow FDI up to 74 per cent in private
sector banks and also scrapping the 10 per cent ceiling
on voting rights of foreign investors.
The
other unions joining the strike are: All India Bank Officers
Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank
Employees
(NCBE), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) and
Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI).
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