IDBI Bank staff on strike against government privatisation plan

At present, the government holds 76.5 per cent stake in IDBI Bank

Mumbai

: Over 30,000 employees of IDBI Bank are on a one-day strike to protest government's plans to privatise the lender by creating a Axis Bank-like structure for it. The employees are protesting under the banner of United Forum of IDBI Officers and Employees, supported by All India Bank Officers Association.

At present, the government holds 76.5 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. The government indirectly controls 29.19 per cent in Axis Bank through the administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), Life Insurance Corp and four other public sector general insurance companies.

"We are against the government plans to sell its stake to private players. It wants to achieve its disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore through this," a union member said.

However, an IDBI official said the lender so far has not received any formal communication from the government on the issue. IDBI Bank came into existence, with Parliament passing the IDBI Repeal Act in 2003. In terms of provisions of the Repeal Act, IDBI has been functioning as a bank in addition to its earlier role of a financial institution. Earlier in September, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Jayant Sinha had spoken about the government's plan to privatise IDBI Bank.

"We'll consider transforming IDBI Bank in a manner similar to the way Axis Bank was done," Sinha had told reporters last month.