Hundreds of depositors of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank staged another peaceful protest in south Mumbai on Saturday morning.
It has been 26 days since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notice to PMC Bank imposing restrictions on the bank and seizing all its operations. The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police as well as the Enforcement Directorate are conducting investigations into the matter.
A group of around 500 people gathered at Asiatic Society of Mumbai at 10.30 a.m. and raised slogans against the RBI for its inaction on the matter. They also displayed placards that said: “Please don’t keep your money in a cooperative bank. The RBI may take it over.”
Braving the rain, the protesters marched to the RBI headquarters and demanded a meeting with one of its members. On being denied entry into the RBI, they staged a rasta roko. They also handed out pamphlets to highlight their plight.
Harleen Reki, one of the protesters, said, “I have an account at the Chembur branch. My mother also has a fixed deposit in the bank. We have been protesting on the streets and campaigning on Twitter for over 22 days now. Four people have died and people are even being denied access to medical funds. It is high time that the authorities come up with a speedy solution.”
Bernard Pereira, another protester, said the RBI still hasn’t come out with an interim report. He said, “Hundreds of agitated depositors have taken to the streets and still the RBI has turned a blind eye towards us. Neither has it come up with a solution nor has it given us any assurance that the solution is on its way.”
Sajeev Singh, who runs a logistics business and holds a current account with PMC Bank, said his operations have come to a standstill. He said, “It is a tough situation. But there has been no encouraging response from anyone. The State government hides behind the reason that the model code of conduct is in force. The RBI remains tight-lipped and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that the RBI doesn’t come under the purview of the Finance Ministry. We don’t know where to go. We only have one demand: a direct meeting with RBI governor Shaktikanta Das.”
Under police watch
After the rasta roko, the protesters walked back to Asiatic Society and ended the protest at 4 p.m. A squad of 25 to 30 police personnel kept an eye on the protesters throughout the day.
Senior police inspector Sanjay Kamble, MRA Marg police station, said, “It was a peaceful protest with due permission taken. The protesters had informed us about it beforehand.”
