60 crore people do not have bank accounts: Venkatachalam

All India Bank Employees' Association general secretary C H Venkatachalam today said around 60 crore people in the country do not have accounts in banks due to insufficient numbers of branches in rural areas.
Talking to reporters after addressing the state-level conference of State Bank of Patiala employees' union, he said inflation and recession have badly affected the country's economy.
Growth in the employment sector was very low, he said adding, around 6 lakh permanent jobs of central services have been abolished, creating uncertainty for the youth.
20 crore women were working in the unorganised sector, but no step has been taken by the Centre to secure their basic rights, he said.

Venkatachalam alleged the government as well as RBI was promoting private banks and bank licenses were being issued to big corporate houses.
The government has become a puppet in the hands of big corporates, he said adding, figures published by public sector banks indicate they have about Rs 1,64,449 crore as bad loans as on March 31, 2013.
Opposing the proposal of merging State Bank of Patiala with State Bank of India, Venkatachalam said the central trade unions have decided to build an united struggle against the Centre's anti-employee policies and would hold a protest rally in front of the Parliament on December 12.

Referring to revision of wages, he said the last wage pact for banks had expired in October 2012 and more than nine months have passed, but other than some preliminary discussions, no serious negotiations have been held on the demands so far.