(FE)
Criticising the demand for privatising state-run banks in the wake of the Rs 12,600 crore PNB fraud, a bank employees’ body has written to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that such a move would be “counterproductive”. The Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), the banking wing of Congress- affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), has said in the letter that privatising public sector banks (PSBs) would result in destroying their huge branch network across the country. “Should the PSBs be handed over to private corporates, it will not only be counterproductive, but also lead to self-destruction of a well-knit huge branch network across the length and breadth of the country that services crores of people,” the INBEF said in the letter. The union pointed to some gaps in the regulatory mechanism in regard to fraud played on the Indian banking system.
