New Delhi: Expressing happiness over the conclusion of 10th bipartite wage negotiations between Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and their employees, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the government is committed to work for the betterment of every citizen.
"Our government is committed for the betterment of lives of every citizen, including government employees. The 10th bipartite settlement between PSBs and their employees reinforces the government's commitment to better lives and working environment for the people.
"I am indeed happy for every bank employee on his wage hike," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.
Yesterday, public sector bank employee unions had withdrawn their call for a four-day nationwide strike, with the management agreeing to 15 per cent hike in wages at an extra burden of Rs 4,725 crore per year and acceding to the demand for a holiday on second and fourth Saturdays. The banks, however, will work full-day on remaining Saturdays instead of the current practice of half-day. The unions had threatened to go on four-day strike from February 25, demanding 19 per cent hike in wages.
The wage revision would benefit about 8.5 lakh employees and officers in 45 banks, including old generation private sector banks and a few foreign lenders. Wage revision in PSU banks is done every five years. The previous revision was done in 2007.
Jaitley said as many as 70 ordinances were promulgated under first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and 18 the under United Front and listed the ordinances promulgated multiple times during the previous UPA regime.
"No law can be passed by by-passing Parliament," he said adding a bill to convert the ordinance into an act was in the Lok Sabha and would be brought to this House after it is passed by the Lower House.
"So the new logic that is being constructed that Parliament is being bypassed is not justified," he said.
Later, Jaitley said the government has, through the ordinance, provisioned for four times compensation to farmers for land acquisition even in the 13 sectors which were kept out of the earlier land law passed during the UPA rule.
Defending the ordinance provisions of exempting social impact surveys for acquisition for five purposes including rural infrastructure, housing for the poor and industrial corridor, Jaitley they will benefit the rural areas and asked the leaders opposing the Ordinance to read the law again. However, members were unrelenting in their criticism of the Ordinance and Jaitley's plea to them to raise objections when the bill was brought in the House fell on deaf ears.
Former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that Jaitley has "misled" the House by saying compensation has been increased four times for farmers whose lands were acquired under 13 laws. He said the government has done no favour by doing so as the land law passed in 2013 itself had a separate schedule in which it was clearly written that within one year, changes in compensation will be brought under those 13 laws.
Sharma also countered Jaitley's arguments on ordinances saying that ordinances under Nehru were spread over his 17 years in power and under extra-ordinary circumstances as the country had then just been partitioned. The ordinances under UPA had to be re-promulgated multiple time as the opposition had not allowed the House to function, he said. Sharma, a former Commerce Minister, also noted that nobody in the House was against the industry.
Derek 'O' Brien of Trinamool Congress also accused Jaitley of giving "selective information" alleging the government has brought more ordinances than bills during its nine-month tenure. Recalling that his party Trinamool Congress had opposed the land law passed by the UPA in 2013, he said that after this Ordinance "they are looking like angels".
Sharad Yadav (JDU) said through the ordinance, the government was "bulldozing and trampling" on Parliamentary scrutiny because they have absolute majority. D Raja (CPI) said the ordinance was intended "to help the corporate and big business Houses." Mayawati (BSP) said the ordinance was not in the interest of the farmers and favoured only few industralists and corporate houses.
