Employees of J&K Bank on Thursday held a demonstration in Srinagar and demanded a rollback of Governor Satya Pal Malik’s decision to declare the bank a public sector undertaking, one that fuelled fears over the bank's autonomy.
Employees assembled at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Srinagar carrying placards that read, ‘Roll back the State Administrative Council decision’.
“We warned the government against interfering in the bank’s affairs. We will chalk out our further course of action once a formal order is issued. We will make public the ramification of the move,” said All India J&K Bank Officers' Federation head Tassaduq Madni.
Employees of the bank have threatened to intensify protests in coming days.
The Governor-headed SAC decided to convert the bank into a PSU on November 21, evoking widespread condemnation from regional parties, the civil society and the traders’ bodies.
Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party also held a street protest in Srinagar over the issue.
The protest rally from the party headquarters to the city centre, Lal Chowk, was led by senior PDP leader Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura.
‘Reconsider order’
Former legislators M.Y. Tarigami, Ghulam Hassan Mir and Hakeem Yaseen have asked the Governor-led administration “to reconsider the order on J&K Bank”.
In a joint statement, the leaders welcomed the decision to bring the bank under the purview of the Right to Information Act, the Central Vigilance Commission guidelines and the State Legislature. “However, the decision of the State Administrative Council to turn the bank into a public sector undertaking is unwarranted and must be reconsidered,” they said in a joint statement.
