POLITICAL Parties, unions oppose SBT merger

CPI leader Pannian Ravindran, CPI(M) State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and KPCC President V.M. Sudheeran at a convention organised by the Save SBT Forum in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday against the merger of the SBT with SBI. The move is part of diluting government stake in the bank and to allow private participation: Kodiyeri 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 5 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. SBH unions threaten stir Jun 16, 2016, SBH employees have decided to go on strike on July 28 and 29 against the merger. Established as Hyderabad State Bank in 1941 by the erstwhile Nizam regime, the bank opened its first branch at Gunfoundry in the city in 1942. Hyderabad: With the union cabinet approving merger of five associate State Banks including State Bank of Hyderabad, with SBI, Telangana is set to lose its Nizam era bank. 6 SBH employees have decided to go on strike on July 28 and 29 against the merger. They demanded that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao get a unanimous resolution passed in the Legislative Assembly against the merger. SBH employees claimed that the people of Telangana consider SBH as a bank of Telangana and the state government should not allow the Centre to wipe out SBH, which has been the identity of Telangana in the banking sector for about 75 years. Employees fear that their career growth prospects will also be hit after the merger as their present seniority would not be considered for promotion and other benefits. Established as Hyderabad State Bank in 1941 by the erstwhile Nizam regime, the bank opened its first branch at Gunfoundry in the city in 1942. “Among all subsidiary State Banks, only SBH posted profits last year and it has the capacity to remain and function as an independent bank. There is no reason to merge SBH with SBI. It also results in revenue loss for Telangana government. Being located in Telangana, some portion of the bank’s profits are shared with the Telangana government. After merger, the share will go to Maharashtra as SBI headquarters are located in Mumbai,” said Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, honorary president of AP and Telangana Bank Employees Federation. S.B.Rajasekhar, president, SBH Staff Association, said, “SBH should not be looked at as a mere bank. It has emotional and psychological attachment with the people of Telangana since it was set up by the erstwhile Nizam regime.”