Bank employees' plan dharna in front of Parliament on Aug 31

Hyderabad, Aug 17 (UNI) Bank employees and officers from all over the country will stage a dharna in front of Parliament on August 31, in support of their charter of demands to strengthen the banking sector.

Speaking at a press conference here today, Andhra Pradesh Bank Employees Federation General Secretary B S Rambabu and All India Bank Officers' Association state unit General Secretary Anil Kumar said 5,000 bank employees and officers would take part in the dharna and submit one crore signatures to be collected from the public to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In a signature campaign in support of demands, more than ten lakh signatures would be collected from the state and 500 bank employees would take part in the dharna representing the state.

They said the 20 demands, included opening of more branches in unbanked rural areas and increasing the interest rates on small savings deposits in banks.

They also demanded that the government recover the Bank loans and NPAs expeditiously by initiating stringent measures against the defaulters. They also demanded interest-free loans for economically weaker sections in the country.

They said the public sector banks should not be privatised and the bank employees would oppose the merger of banks in the country as this step would not benefit the common people.

The All India Bank Employees Association and All India Bank Officers Association had launched a national campaign on July 19 on various issues affecting the banking industry and the common people.

They said the banks, which deal with the hard-earned savings of the common people, should benefit the masses but there was a calculated change in the direction and policies in favour of the corporates and against the interests of the ordinary public.

They said the associations would intensify their struggle if the government failed to fulfil their genuine public demands.

UNI