Criminal action against wilful defaulters of banks loans demanded

Countrywide Strike against so-called banking reforms 

Ludhiana: 28th February 2017: (Punjab Screen Bureau)::

On the call given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), one million bank Workmen and Officers are observing country wide Strike TODAY agianst so called banking reforms by the Government. As per decision, United Forum of Bank Unions (Unit : Ludhiana) held a massive demonstration  in front of  Canara Bank, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Ludhiana.  Com. Naresh Gaur, Convener, United Forum of Bank Unions, Com. D P Maur, General Secretary, Joint Council of Trade Unions, Com B S Walia, President, PAU Employees Union, Com. Harvinder Singh, Sr.Vice President, PBEF Ludhiana and Com. Gurmeet Singh from AIBOA addressed the bank employees.  Com. Ashok Malhan, Com. Rajesh Verma, Vice Presidents, Pb. Bank Employees Federation and Com. Parveen Moudgil, Convener, Women Cell, Pb. Bank Employees Federation were also present. 

While addressing the bank employees, Com. Naresh Gaur said The Unions in the banking industry have been fighting for more than 2 decades against the reform measures of the Government as these are against the interests of general public and labour force in the country.  In the name of reform measures, every effort is being made by the successive Governments since 1991 to shift the control of public sector entities to the private and foreign investors. 

In order to create a conducive environment to the private and foreign investors further efforts are being made by the Government to amend the labour laws to suit their needs.  In the banking sector also, there are increasing instances of denial of trade union rights viz. right of representation in the Boards of the Banks, right to collective bargaining, violation of Settlements, questioning to right to strike etc.  Further, every effort is being made to outsource the permanent jobs, in the banking industry too, which is fraught with risks

Hence, UFBU is opposed to the retrograde anti-people banking/labour reforms, the moves of the Government infringing the hard-earned trade union rights and the hazardous practice of outsourcing of permanent jobs.

 The implementation of demonetization and the effects of the same are known to everyone.  The role and the performance of bank employees during the implementation period was appreciated by each and every one including the top management functionaries, Government, customers and the general public.  It is a pity that the day and night hard work and suffering of bank employees and officers are not given due recognition.  The eligible compensation to employees as per bipartite provisions for the extra hours of work performed by them is denied.  Officers were also made to work for long hours and on Sundays/holidays without compensation or with notional payment.

The cost of demonetization as well as the business loss during the demonetization period of nearly two months will have a cascading effect on the balance sheets of the banks, the brunt of which would ultimately fall on the bank employees and officers alone.  It is imperative that the demonetization cost needs to be reimbursed to the Banks by the Government.

Several issues pertaining to the bank employees and officers such as the appointment of workmen/officer employee directors in the boards of many banks, adequate recruitment in all cadres, removal of ceiling on Gratuity, exemption of Income-Tax on Superannuation benefits, improvements in pension/family pension schemes and issues relating to retirees are yet to be resolved.  Despite approval by Government, subsequent to decade long struggle of UFBU, the Compassionate Appointment Scheme is still not introduced in many banks.  Five-day banking is another long pending demand of bank employees and officers.  

The Government is very serious in continuing the retrograde reform measures ignoring the real menace in the banking industry i.e., alarmingly increasing bad loans.  Willful defaulters are also on the increase.  The whole country has so far witnessed that the method of evading repayment also is maximum done by the big and corporate borrowers.  The economy of the country is affected.  There is a need to fix accountability of those responsible for the bad loans.  Criminal action against willful defaulters of bank loans can only reduce such types of irregularities in the banking industry.

On the issues and demands of bank employees and officers including retirees, as mentioned above, it has been unanimously decided by the UFBU to observe One Day All India Bank Strike on the 28^th February 2017.

We sincerely regret the inconvenience to the esteemed customers/general public on account of strike by bank employees and appeal for their moral support to our just cause.        

Today IRIA suspended the services of radiology

Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 5:05 PM

Tomorrow ultrasound services will be suspended

Ludhiana: 1st September 2016: (Punjab Screen Bureau):

Today IRIA suspended the services of radiology all over India. Tomorrow ultrasound services will be suspended. This protest is against the misuse of PC and PNDT Act by the authorities. Today a memorandum was given to Mr Rishi Pal Singh, ADC General. Then second memorandum was given to Dr Renu Chhatval, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana. Those who participated are Dr Subhash Singla, Hony. Secretary IRIA Punjab State, Dr Gurdeep Singh, Treasurer National IRIA, Dr Rajeev Garg and Dr Ankhvir Gill, Central Council Members and other eminent radiologists Dr Sumel Kaur, Dr Ajay Aggarwal, Dr Varun Satija, Dr Gurneet Singh and Dr Naveen Periera. And the centers which suspended the services were Advanced Diagnostics, Delta Heart, Focus Scan, ACE Diagnostics, DMC, CMC (OPD), SPS Hospital, Oswal Hospital, Navya Diagnostics, Heart Beat Diagnostics, Spectrum Diagnostics, Neurociti, Fortis Hospital, mLifeline Hospital, Pahwa Hospital, GTB, Krishna Hospital, Rama Charitable Hospital, Bhagwan Ram Hospital, USPC, Gaind Hospital, Raghunath Hospital, Vijaynand Hospital, Satija Hospital, Magnus Hospital, Neo Scan.

Halt retrograde Banking Sector reforms

Bank employees held a massive demonstration Main protest organized in front of  Canara Bank

Ludhiana: 29th July 2016: (Punjab Screen Bureau):

• Do not increase private capital in Public Sector Banks

• Do not encourage FDI in banking Sector

• Do not give license to corporates to start Banks

• Do not give license to private hands to open Small Banks and Payment Banks

• Do not consolidate and merge Banks

• Extend more credit to agriculture sector

• Recover bad loans through stringent measures

• Increase interest rate on deposits in Banks

On the call given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), one million bank Workmen and Officers are observing country wide Strike TODAY agianst so called banking reforms by the Government. As per decision, United Forum of Bank Unions (Unit : Ludhiana) held a massive demonstration  in front of  Canara Bank, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Ludhiana.  Com. Naresh Gaur, Convener, United Forum of Bank Unions, Com. Pawan Thakur, President, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (Ludhiana Unit), Com. Sanjay Sharma, Vice President, All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) and Dy. General Secretary, State Bank of India Officers Asociation, Ludhiana Zone, Com. J.P.Kalra, President State Bank of India Officers Association, Com. Iqbal Singh, Asstt. General Secretary, State Bank of India Staff Association, Com. D P Maur, General Secretary, Joint Council of Trade Unions  addressed the bank employees.  Com. Ashok Malhan, Com. Rajesh Verma, Vice Presidents, Pb. Bank Employees Federation and Com. Parveen Moudgil, Convener, Women Cell, Pb. Bank Employees Federation were also present.    

While addressing the bank employees, Com. Naresh Gaur said that all of us are aware about the various attempts of the Government to push through banking reform measures in one way or the other.  The basic idea is to dilute and dismantle public sector banking and boost up private sector banking. We have been consistently fighting against such machinations.  We have been able to build up intensive campaigns, agitations, struggles and strike actions against all these measures.  We can also legitimately feel proud that due to all these persistent efforts, the speed with which these reform measures were proposed to be implemented, could not be of such dimension as planned. But we know that the Government is on their heels to somehow get their agenda implemented.

The Government has also announced their proposals for

merger of PSBs.  Already RBI has announced its scheme for granting licenses to corporates and industrial houses. Further RBI has announced their Guidelines on setting up of Small Private Banks and Payment Banks.  Thus there is a concerted attempt to hand over our banking sector more and more to private hands. We are already aware of the Government’s continuous attempts to push through their reforms agenda aimed at privatisation of banks, consolidation and merger of Banks, etc.  More and more private capital and FDI are being encouraged.  Regional Rural Banks are sought to be privatised and the Bill has been passed by the Government in the Parliament despite protests by our Unions. Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACs) are under threat of winding up. Urban Co-operative Banks are under threat of delicensing. Private sector executives are imposed on the public sector banks.  All the Government schemes are being imposed on the Banks without proper infrastructure and manpower resulting harassment and problems faced by the bank staff.  Bank officers are being denied regulated working hours. Permanent and regular jobs are being outsourced on contract basis and contract employees are being exploited. Government would like to proceed on its agenda to amend the labour laws without any proper consultation with the trade unions. In the name of banking sector reforms, the attempt is to privatise the Banks and hand them over to the private corporates to enable them to further loot the precious savings of the people. Already our Banks are bleeding due to alarming increase in bad loans, thanks to the deliberate default by the corporates and big business enterprises. Instead of taking tough measures to book the culprits and recover the loans, efforts are taken to hand over the banks to very same defaulters. It is very clear that all their talks of banking reforms and proposals of merger and consolidation are only a ploy and game plan to divert the attention of the people from the massive bad loans in the Banks. Our country needs strong public sector banks and not necessarily big banks or global-sized banks. Our country needs banking expansion and not consolidation of banks and shrinkage of banking services to people. The focus should be the alarming increase in bad loans to the tune of about Rs. 13 lac crore. The efforts should be to recover the money by taking stringent measures and not hush it up through provisions, write-offs, CDRs and SDRs. 

If the loans have been sanctioned wrongly, action should be taken on the concerned Executives.  If the borrower has cheated the Banks, criminal action should be taken against the defaulter. Providing for the bad loans, clean-up of Balance Sheet and making the Banks to incur the losses is not the solution to the problem.  It is obvious, all these are only diversionary tactics to escape from the accountability for the huge bad loans.  Kingfisher Mallya is only the tip of the iceberg.  There are many more sharks in the ocean of bad loans in the Banks.  Why the list of defaulters is not being published by them?  Why criminal action is not taken on the willful corporate defaulters?  Why all velvet treatment to them?  Why the attempt to convert the bad loans as equity investment in these defaulter companies?  Is it the corporate governance and good governance policy of the Government?  In IDBI Bank, 10 years ago, about Rs.9000 crores of bad loans were taken out of their books.  Now another Rs. 19,000 crores is the bad loan.  Instead taking action to recover these bad loans, the Government wants to privatise and sell the Bank to the very same private sector which is responsible for these huge loan default in IDBI Bank.

Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha participated in the nationwide strike

Fri, Jul 8, 2016 at 5:13 PM

Organised rallies at different places in the state 

Ludhiana: 8th July 2016: (Gulzar Goria//Punjab Screen):

The Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha Organised rallies at different places in the state and participated in the nationwide strike by the agriculture labour on 1st July for their demands. Hand bills were distributed during these events and the people were made aware of their rights which have been denied by successive governments. The agriculture workers struck their work and joined these rallies at Taran Taran, Nawasheher, Banga, Malerkotla, Muktsar, Vill Nathowal & Machiwara in Ludhiana, Mansa, Bhudlada, Kalasangian, Bathinda, Lambi, Amritsar, Vill Shatrana in Patiala, Jalandhar, Pathankot and Abohar. Various state and district level leaders of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sahba addressed these rallies which included Com Daryao Singh, Gulzar Gorai, Swarn Singh Nagoke, Surjeet Sohi Adv, Nanak Chand Lambi, Rishi Pal Khubban, Preetam Singh Niamatpur, Devi Kumari, Gurdeep Singh Gurwali, Bant Singh Brar, Ramlal, Kulwant singh Pandherkheri, Hari Singh Machiwara, Surinder Kumar Bhani, Krishan Chauhan Mansa.

Gulzar Goria is Gen.Secy of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha and his contat number is- 9463809002