Bank staffs take out rally in Kolkata against privatisation, merger of PSBs

Protesting against the privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs), bank employees and officers on Saturday took out a rally here, hitting out against the Central government for "forcing the nationalised banks to get merged".

"The motive of the present government is very clear, it is forcing the nationalised banks to get merged, next to privatise and finally to sell it off in the hands of big business houses," said All India Bank Officers' Confederation' West Bengal state unit secretary Sanjay Das.

The bank employees alleged that the Centre was refraining from announcing names of big defaulters.

Celebrating 50 years of bank nationalisation, the bank officials said roughly 560 small and big private banks plummeted before the nationalisation.

"The ill fate of pre-nationalisation era is once again about to return, and the common man shall refrain from getting the financial services of the banking system, in the absence of the Nationalised Banks," state unit President Shuvojyoti Chatterjee said.

"The government is making efforts to mislead the citizens of our country, in the name of merger and privatization of the nationalised banks," a statement added.

--IANS

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