Bhubaneswar: All India IDBI Officers Association (AIIDBIOA), Bhubaneswar Zone, held a meet at Hotel V Platina, Plot no-268, near Venkateshwar English Medium School, Unit-IV, in the capital city.

General Secretary AIIDBIOA Vithal Koteswara Rao, Bhubaneswar Zone Secretary Goutam Pattanaik, President Lalatendu Behera, Vice President Debabrata Behera attended the meet.

The purpose of the meeting was to plead for maintaining the public sector character of IDBI Bank. IDBI Bank being in public Sector has always been engaging with social sector banking alongside profitable banking.

IDBI Bank has more than 18.72 lakh bank account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jandhan Yojana (PMJDY), more than 10.86 Lakh bank account holders under Pradhan Mantri Surkshya Bima Yojana (PMSBY), more than 3.81 lakh bank account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), more than 5.48 Lakh bank account holders under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), 191 Aadhar enrolment centres and one Rural Self Empolyment Training Institute (IDBI-RSETI) at Satara district which trained 7,165 candidates out of which 5,241 have settled.

Due to re-classification of IDBI Bank as a “private sector bank” by RBI, metro and urban branches of IDBI Bank stopped providing interest subvention KCC loans to farmers since March, 2019. If the bank goes into the hands of private/foreign players, the semi-urban and rural branches will not provide loans to farmers, small loans such as MUDRA/ PMSVANIDHI/Stand Up India, which are normally offered as unsecured loans to small business customers. Similarly, unsecured small education loans to needy and poor students will no longer be available.

The Central government being promoter with 45.48% shareholding, general public have reposed their faith in IDBI Bank. Because of which, the deposits in IDBI Bank stood at Rs 3,10,294 crore as on March 31 this year.

If IDBI Bank is sold, the hard-earned money of common man and general public will be in peril. It is worth mentioning here that IDBI Bank has been earning net profits for the last five years i.e. Rs.1,359 Cr in 2020-21, Rs.2,439 Cr in 2021-22, Rs.3,645 Cr in 2022-23, Rs 5,634 Cr. In 2023-24 and Rs 7,515 Cr 2024-25.

The proposed sale of IDBI Bank with 2,106 branches by the Central Government (45.48% shareholding) and LIC of India (49.24% shareholding) is against the interest of the depositors, the small agriculture farmers and MSME borrowers, over 20,000 employees of IDBI Bank and the policy holders of LIC of India.

As on March 31, 2025, there is a representation of SC (2,923), ST (1,156), OBC (5,415), EWS (675), female (6,911) and differently abled (884) employees and workers in the total manpower of IDBI Bank. Those underprivileged sections of the Society will be the casualty consequent upon privatization.

On this context, the AIIDBIOA has urged the Central Government to revisit its decision to privatise the bank in the interest of social banking, underprivileged sections of the society and the common man.

The AIIDBIOA requested to Government of India to secure back 6% from the market or from LIC of India to have 51% of government equity, thereby to honor the assurances made in both the floors of the Parliament.

The association also urged the Government to advise the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to treat IDBI Bank as a Public Sector Bank for regulatory purposes as Government of India and LIC of India are holding 95% of the equity in IDBI Bank and to restore the character of Development Banking to IDBI.