Privatization of public sector banks against public interest

Experts in various fields suggest alternatives to privatization

Aurangabad, Dec 11:

It is not in the public interest to privatize Public Sector Banks (PSBs) implementing government welfare schemes. Instead of privatization, an independent directors should be appointed on the PSBs, give them freedom of decision, and strictly adhere to RBI rules, said industry, trade and economics experts in the 'Jansunwai' (Public hearing) organized by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Saturday.

The 'Banking Law Amendment Bill 2021' will be introduced in the winter session of the Lok Sabha. If approved, it would pave the way for the government to privatize three public sector banks. The UFBU has organized public hearings in 10 cities across the state to protest. It started in Aurangabad on Saturday. Entrepreneur Ram Bhogle stressed on the need to privatize PSBs. It doesn't matter if the bank is public or private, he said.

Senior vice-president of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Ajay Shah opposed the privatization of PSBs. Former director of SBH KN Thigale stressed that PSBs should be saved by eliminating the flaws in these banks. Convener Devidas Tuljapurkar said that if PSBs were privatized, deposits of Rs 100 lakh crore would be unsecured. Former general manager of Bank of Maharashtra PB Ambhore said that privatization of banks was not in the public interest.

Political economy in the country

India has a political economy. Due to the failure of private sector banks, a total of 20 private banks were nationalized in 1969 and 1980. Ninety percent of banking business was in the public sector. However, with the political economy here, government intervention in the RBI is now on the rise. It is up to the people to decide whether to privatize or not, said Dhanashree Mahajan

Apathy of public representatives

None of the public representatives in the city today attended the public hearing. However, MP Imtiyaz Jaleel sent a message in support of the fight against privatization. It was read by Tuljapurkar.