Panaji: Bank employees in Goa would join the nationwide strike on February 28 against demonetisation and other “ill-conceived” reforms measures in the banking sector.The costs incurred by banks due to the prolonged demonetisation exercise need to be reimbursed to banks by the central government, A.M. Pereira, General Secretary of the Goa Bank Employee’s Association, said in a statement on Thursday.

The government had ignored the “real menace” of the banking industry, which is the increasing quantum of bad loans, he said. “The cost of demonetisation as well as the business loss during the demonetisation period of nearly two months will have a cascading effect on the balance sheets of the banks, the brunt of which would ultimately fall on the bank employees and officers alone.”The association also said that the effort put in by the bank employees to make the demonetisation exercise work, was also not given due recognition.

“It is a pity that the day and night hard work and suffering of bank employees and officers are not given due recognition,” the statement quoting Pereira added. “Officers were also made to work for long hours and on Sundays and holidays without compensation or with notional payment,” Pereira said. “The whole country has so far witnessed that the method of evading repayment also is maximum done by the big and corporate borrowers. The economy of the country is affected. There is a need to fix accountability of those responsible for the bad loans. Criminal action against willful defaulters of bank loans can only reduce such types of irregularities in the banking industry.”