The Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], and Communist Party of India (CPI) have come together on a joint platform to express solidarity with the employees of State Bank of Travancore (SBT) in their opposition towards the Union government’s move to merge the bank with State Bank of India (SBI).
A meeting held here hours after the Union Cabinet approved the merger of five associate banks, including SBT, on Wednesday, formed Save SBT Forum in the presence of CPI(M) State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran, CPI leader Pannian Ravindran, and trade union leaders.
'Make a strong intervention'
Inaugurating the conference, Mr. Balakrishnan said the LDF government would make a strong intervention to prevent the SBI takeover of the bank. During the tenure of the UDF government, the Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution opposing the move and the present government would certainly adopt the same line to stall the merger process, he said.
“The move is part of diluting government stake in the bank and to allow private participation. The nationalisation of banks was a progressive step towards giving benefits of the banking sector to the poor and needy. The present move by the Union government is a backward step,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sudheeran requested the LDF government to convene an all-party meeting so that a strong message against the merger plan could be conveyed to the Centre. The party would provide all support to the government in opposing the SBT takeover.
The takeover move would harm the interest of employees and overall interest of the State. The bank with 852 branches in the State had been part of the State’s development, he said. CPI leader Pannian Ravindran said the Centre was trying to push its corporate agenda and the move to merge SBT was part of that agenda.
