Bank-merger move faces stiff opposition from employees

A REPORTER

SHILLONG: To demonstrate their opposition to the announcement made by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, to merge around 10 Public Bank Sectors (PBS) and create four new banks, employees of different banks in the city under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) staged a meeting outside the Syndicate Bank here on Saturday evening.

Speaking to a couple of reporters, working president of Meghalaya Bank Employees' Association (MBEA) Teibor Lynshing said, "We have gathered here today to express our opposition to the decision made by the Central government to merge the public sector banks and create four new banks. The intension of the Central government to merge these 10 banks and create four new banks is in one way a move to suppress the rights of the employees," he alleged.

He further said that in Shillong there are many banks which include the Canara Bank, the Syndicate Bank among others; and if these banks are merged it will severely affect the employees working at these banks. The Union government on August 30 announced the mega-merger of 10 PSU banks into four entities, where the Punjab National Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank will merge to become the second-largest public sector bank (PSB) while the Canara Bank and the Syndicate Bank will amalgamate to set up the fourth-largest PSU banking entity. India will now have 12 state-run banks instead of 27.

"Once these banks are merged and only four banks created, it would mean that the other banks in the city which have been merged will have to be closed down and this will also affect employment," he added.

He also informed that the UFBU is preparing other forms of agitation if the Central government does pay heed to their opposition to the decision of merging these banks.

Lynshing also said that under the umbrella of UFBU, there are several other employees' associations of different banks including the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI), the All India Employees Association, and the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC).

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