While Unions insisted that the government must initiate wider discussions on the issue with all stakeholders including bank employees during the meeting, the Labour Commissioner instructed the IBA to continue the dialogue with the Unions, said a source who was present in the meeting.The representatives of the Finance Ministry tried to persuade the unions to call off the strike by explaining that except the announcement in the Budget, no concrete steps have been taken by the government.The representatives of the Finance Ministry also said they were not sure when and whether the Bill will be taken up by the Parliament or not. Hence Unions should not proceed with their call for the strike.After the meeting, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) blamed the government for the impasse and said that the Union government did not give any assurance on Bank Privatisation Bill.“Since the Government and IBA representatives could not give any assurance regarding the non-introduction of the Bill as sought for by us, we regretted our inability to accede to their appeal to withdraw our strike call,” said AIBEA.“We reiterated our stand that if the Government would assure that the Bank Privatisation Bill (Banking Laws(Amendment) Bill, 2021) would not be tabled during this session of the Parliament, we would be inclined to reconsider the strike,” added AIBEA.
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