Bank unions announce 2-day strike from 15 March to protest privatization

In her Budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that strategic disinvestment of BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, and BEML, among others, would be completed in 2021-22. It was further proposed that besides IDBI Bank, two public sector banks will be privatized along with General Insurance Company in fiscal 2021-22.

"Other than IDBI Bank, we propose to take up the privatization of two public sector banks and one General Insurance company in the year 2021-22. This would require legislative amendments and I propose to introduce the amendments in this session itself," Ms. Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech.

Following this announcement, bank employees and officials, at the call of UFBU, had launched protests across the country.

Now, the UFBU has said more intensive programmes, including more strikes, will be launched if the government decides to go ahead with its decision to privatize banks. The strikes will be preceded by different programmes like postering, badge-wearing, demonstrations, day-long dharnas in state capitals and other centers, said P.Venkataramaiah, the vice-president of UFBU

On 6 February, former minister and TDP's Visakha North MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao had submitted his resignation letter to the Speaker to show his opposition against the proposed privatization of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the corporate entity of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). Commissioned in 1978, the steel plant employs 17,500 directly and another 20,000 indirectly.