'Bring banking services under ESMA'

INDORE: The business community in the state has demanded that banking services must be covered under the essential services maintenance act (ESMA) to prevent frequent disruption of services by way of strikes. Madhya Pradesh has lost about Rs 18,000 crore on Wednesday due to the strike by staff of public sector banks.
The strike call has been given by the united forum of bank unions (UFBU) to protest against Union government's move to push amendment to banking laws bill which is placed in Parliament.
The fact that the banking regulations do not permit cash transactions beyond Rs 20,000 and that most businessmen who transact business much beyond this limit are badly hit by bank strike. The two-day nationwide banking strike which began on Wednesday is estimated to affect transactions worth Rs 3,600 crore in the state.
Ramesh Khandelwal, president, Ahilya Chamber of Commerce & Industry, talking to TOI said, "In Indore alone the business transactions to the tune of Rs 620 crore was take place on a daily basis and the banking strike has virtually crippled business activity." Ashok Kandelia, president, Association of Industries, Dewas has demanded that the banking services must be covered under ESMA, keeping in view the problems being faced by the business community.
There is an attempt to close down rural branches and starting large number of ultra small branches thereby privatizing rural banking operations through contractual business correspondent-to recover increasing NPA's and bad loan, said C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA.
Ranjan Memani, vice chairman, CII MP, has also advocated for covering banking services under ESMA as it give a big jolt to the industrial progress of the country." UFBU is demanding recruitment in the banking industry through establishing banking services recruitment board and not through IBPS which is only a profit making company unconcerned with needs of the public sector banks, said Vishwas Utagi, secretary, AIBEA.
However, Sanjay Khandelwal, president of Mandideep Industries Association, feels otherwise. "In today's era of RTGS and NEFT, there was no major impact on the industry. But, the small businessmen are definitely affected due to closure of bank branches," he added. V K Sharma, state co-ordinator, UFBU, said that rallies were taken out by the agitating bank staff in all across the state in favour of six-point demand.