The Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Rally held at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar today was attended by over two thousand bank officers and other stakeholders, coming from various parts of the country. Addressing the rally, AIBOC General Secretary Soumya Datta appealed to the Government to withdraw the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which has been listed for introduction and passing in the winter session of parliament. In case the government tables and passes the bill, paving the way for the privatisation of the public sector banks, the bank officers will unite all the stakeholders of the banking sector and launch a nationwide agitation, Soumya Datta said, urging the bankers to draw inspiration from the farmers movement.
The Mass Rally was also addressed by Congress leaders Professor Gourav Ballabh, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka and Kanhaiya Kumar, trade union leaders Tapan Sen and Amarjeet Kaur, Kisan Sabha leader Vijoo Krishnan, Economist Dr. Prasenjit Bose, AIBOC Advisor Sunil Kumar, Senior Vice Presidents from different affiliates, social activists Vijay Bandhu, Ritu Singh and Anupam and student leader Saket Moon. The meeting was presided over by Murali Soundararajan T, President AIBOC.
The speakers at the rally from different walks of life spoke in one voice against the disastrous policies of privatisation of public enterprises and assets undertaken by the government and expressed solidarity with the bankers. They appealed to the citizens to speak out against bank privatisation, which will threaten the security of the bank deposits, squeeze credit flow to the poorer sections like farmers and micro-enterprises and cause retrenchment of jobs. Several speakers warned that if the government refuses to learn its lessons from the farmers movement, they will face bigger movement on the streets in the days to come.
MSMEs, Self-Help Groups and loanees from the weaker sections of society, to rise up against bank privatisation, which will harm their interests. We appeal to all civil society organisations, farmers’ and workers’ unions, political parties and other stakeholders of our democracy to join and support our movement in defence of the PSBs, and public sector enterprises in general. Together, we shall defeat the policies of privatisation.
