Left stages walkout over outsourcing issue

The Left staged a walk out over a calling attention motion on "the situation arising out of the RBI decision to allow outsourcing of certain vital banking activities", saying they against what they termed "moves which would dilute the social banking aspect of banking."

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said outsourcing had only led to more frauds and would have an adverse impact on unemployed youths who would be made to take the flak for any frauds committed.

"If 60 per cent of banking is being outsourced to a private company the National Payment Corporation and 40 per cent of all deposits to private handlers, then what will be the role of Indian banks," he said.

Francis George, of the Kerala Congress (J) said the strike of nearly six lakh bank employees was indicative of the peoples ire over such policy proposals. Basudeb Acharia of the CPM wanted to know whether account operation and deposits would also be outsourced.

Finance minister P Chidambaram assured the House that the government remained committed to financial inclusion and the draft guildelines referred only to non-core banking services.

"The decisions to outsource will again depend on whether marketing services and others are efficacious if outsourced," he said.

"I propose to ask the RBI to allow banks to use the agency model to use civil society, knowlegde banks and rural kiosks to make credit easily available to rural areas," he said. We must be innovative and forward looking in our approach and there is no atempt to dilute core banking," he said.

On the issue clearing operations, Chidambaram said the government is examining a proposal to consolidate all clearing houses under an umbrella not-for-profit organisation.