The All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) has demanded halting the disinvestment of government and LIC’s equity in IDBI to private entities and proposed dilution of government stake in five public sector banks (PSBs).
Further, it wants merger of Nainital Bank with its parent Bank of Baroda, adequate recruitment in all cadres, and implementation of 5-day week in the banking industry, among others.
The aforementioned demands are part of the overall demands made by AIBOA in its notice, sent to the Indian Banks’ Association and the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), of two-day nation wide Bank strike on March 24 and March 25, 2025.. .
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“While we oppose generally the sale of Public Sector Undertakings as well as Financial Institutions to private entities, we demand that the government shelve the idea of handing over IDBI in particular to private entities. The government should purchase back the equity holdings held by LIC immediately,” said S Nagarajan, General Secretary, AIBOA.
He observed that PSBs are nation-building instruments. Hence, the government’s move to dilute stake in Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank should be shelved once and for all.
Referring to Bank of Baroda taking over banks operating in Uttar Pradesh in the past, Nagarajan said the recommendations of the Committee on Petitions and also of RBI should be honoured by the parent Bank in the case of its subsidiary Nainital Bank.
AIBOA is a part of the umbrella body of trade unions in the banking sector – United Forum of Bank Unions, which has given a call for the two-day Bank strike.
Need sufficient recruitments
The AIBOA General Secretary underscored that while the volume of business handled by PSBs has gone up tremendously, recruitments are not taking place in sync with the business growth.
“One of the remarkable performances of PSBs is opening Jan-Dhan Accounts and mobilisation of deposits too. They are the major instruments in implementing all government schemes successfully…..Our demand is that there should be matching recruitments in all cadres linking to the promotions considered as well as the lateral recruitments made in Officers scale,” he said.
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Nagarajan said 5 days banking a week brooks no delay, as alternative delivery channels are being utilised by the customers nowadays. Moreover, Central government offices, State government offices, Stock Markets, Foreign Exchange Markets and LIC of India are functioning five days a week.
In order to achieve the demands raised in its Strike Notice, AIBOA has asked officers in the Industry to observe the “Right to Disconnect” — not to attend the calls/SMS/ WhatsApp messages from 8 PM to 9 AM from March 10, 2025 onwards.
