UFBU Warns Against Bank Privatisation After Sitharaman’s Remarks

New Delhi: The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has strongly condemned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks in favour of bank privatisation, made during a lecture at the Delhi School of Economics on November 4. The UFBU, a federation representing nine trade unions of officers and employees across all banks in the country, expressed deep concern and protest over the minister’s comments.

During the Diamond Jubilee Annual Lecture at the Delhi School of Economics, the Finance Minister reportedly spoke approvingly of bank privatisation while responding to a question on whether such a move would restrict banking services to a select section of society. The UFBU said her statements “glorified privatisation” and ignored the crucial role of public sector banking in India’s economic inclusion and national financial stability.

“Public sector banks have been the backbone of India’s transformation,” the UFBU noted, adding that the 1969 bank nationalisation was not merely symbolic but a historic step that fundamentally reshaped the country’s socio-economic foundations. Prior to nationalisation, banking services were largely confined to industrial houses and elite business groups. It was only after the move that farmers, workers, small businesses, women, the weaker sections, and rural citizens gained access to credit facilities.

Through priority sector lending, agricultural credit, SC/ST credit schemes, self-help group (SHG) financing, rural self-employment initiatives, education loans, and MSME support, public sector banks became instruments of inclusive and equitable national development, the UFBU emphasised.

Attempts to glorify privatisation, the union said, disregard both historical experience and current realities. “Private banks lend only where profits are high. They close unprofitable branches, outsource jobs, and ignore weaker sections,” the UFBU observed. Privatisation, it warned, would lead to job cuts, contractualisation, erosion of employment security, dilution of reservation benefits, and curbs on trade union rights.

The UFBU urged the government to provide an unequivocal assurance that no public sector bank would be privatised. Instead, it called for measures to strengthen public sector banks through adequate capital support, technological modernisation, and transparent governance — without resorting to privatisation.