Total bank deposits more than Rs 165 lakh crore, top priority: safety of people’s money

Statement was released by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations/Associations* opposing privatisation of banks, supporting the united struggle of bank employees and officers:

***

As a part of the Government overall policy of economic liberalization and privatisation, the Central Government has been continuously making attempts to privatise the public sector Banks. Various Committees appointed by the Government have also unfailingly echoed the Government’s views and repeatedly recommended privatisation of Banks. The recently report presented by Poonam Gupta of National Council of Applied Economic Research along with former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagaria has also suggested privatisation of entire public sector Banks.
But it is very important to keep in mind that in a developing country like India, the Banks, which are dealing with the huge public savings, are needed to be in public sector because of our bitter experience in the past where many private Banks have collapsed and the people lost their precious savings. Today total Deposits in the Banks are more than Rs. 165 lacs crores and the top priority is the safety of this people’s money.
Further, for the development of our economy, these Deposits have to be deployed in important and needy sectors of the economy. Only public sector Banks extend loans to priority sectors like agriculture, employment generation, poverty reduction, health and education, women’s empowerment, credit to small, medium and cottage industries, exports, etc. Private sector Banks are interested in giving loans only where profits are more and assured and not for social needs of the country.
Further, we have seen in the last five decades, that large number of Branches have been opened in the remote rural areas only by the public sector banks to reach the common people and private banks do not open branches in these areas under the plea of they being non-profitable.
There is no case of privatisation of public sector Banks because it is only the big private corporate companies which are the major defaulters of huge bank loans due to which Banks are incurring large amounts towards provisions, write offs and haircuts. Handing over the Banks to the private sector makes no sense at all.
Hence, we are totally opposed to privatisation of our public sector Banks which are the main engines of our economic development. It is notable the Bank Unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) have been waging a relentless battle against the moves of the Government to privatise the Banks. Their struggle also exposes the moves of the Government to privatise other core sectors of our economy, such as the Railways, Coal, Defence, and other PSUs, which we have been continuously opposing. We extend our full support to the struggle of the UFBU.
----
*INTUC AITUC HMS CITU AIUTUC TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF UTUC and Independent Sectoral Federations/Associations

The 'Dr' debate masks a larger crisis in allied-health education

By Dr P K Gupta* India’s allied-health professions have long operated in a fragmented landscape of universities, hospitals, State authorities and private institutions, each with its own nomenclature, curriculum and standards. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021 was meant to correct this by creating a unified national framework for education, professional regulation and institutional recognition. Few dispute the need for such oversight. The real question is whether standardisation is quietly becoming synonymous with longer courses, additional internships and new professional titles—changes that risk masking deeper gaps in clinical training, institutional capacity and affordability.

Arrival of USS Lincoln: A ‘leisure trip’ to Thailand or a neo-colonial move to commodify women?

By Benyasiri Eimviriyapong The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for a ‘leisure trip’ in Thailand before returning to its campaign of destruction against the people of West Asia demands immediate interrogation and opposition. For us Thai people, and those in sites of American plunder across the globe, this a rattling of the US’ cold war colonial chains on its most loyal lap dog, while conducting a war of aggression in Iran and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. In allowing the USS Lincoln to dock, the Thai ruling elites are once again facilitating a system of imperial violence that extends far beyond Southeast Asian borders, a system which in our case, is predicated on sexual violence and femicide.

Pilgrimage or pollution? The waste crisis of Indian faith

By Raj Kumar Sinha* In today's times, there are certain issues that are constantly talked about and discussed, yet no visible impact seems to be made. Beyond water, soil, and pollution, one crisis that continues to be overlooked is waste. Like other life-threatening problems, waste too is gradually moving toward burying and obliterating us. After the Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar, approximately 8,000 tonnes of waste were left behind on the riverbanks, including bottles filled with urine.

Counterview

Search This Blog