Chennai: The banking industry unions have given a strike call on September 29, 2005, demanding fast recovery of non performing assets (NPA), halting the proposal to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) and bank mergers.

According to the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), the total NPA in banks and financial institutions as on 31^st March 2004, was nearly Rs1 lakh crore and a whopping Rs70,000 crore of corporate loans have been written off. Out of the total operating profits of Rs40,000 crore posted by government banks, nearly Rs14,000 crore have been utilised for provisioning for bad loans. The union is demanding an amendment of the Securitisation Act to cover attachment of personal and private properties of borrowers and the reduction of NPAs to be made from recoveries and not by writing them off.

The AIBEA has also urged the government to stop disinvesting in its banks to the extent of 49 per cent and also the move to merge banks. Similarly, the union is against the government's move to allow FDI up to 74 per cent in private sector banks and also scrapping the 10 per cent ceiling on voting rights of foreign investors.

The other unions joining the strike are: All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI).