Congress to Fight against “Workplace Harassment and Exploitation” in Banking Sector
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 29: The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has promised to fight for the working-class professionals and end “workplace harassment and exploitation” who have become victims of the BJP government’s “cronyism” and “regulatory mismanagement” that have pushed India’s banking sector into a crisis.
In a post on X on Saturday, Mr Gandhi said the government’s “economic mismanagement” has a human cost that affects thousands of honest working professionals and forcing junior employees to “endure stress and toxic work conditions.” The Congress, he said, would fight for such working class professionals and end the work-place harassments.
He shared a video of his meeting with a delegation representing 782 ex-ICICI bank employees who are claimed to have suffered due to the government “mismanagement” promising to end such exploitation and also urged all those who have faced similar “injustice” to write to him.
He also accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of writing off ₹16 lakh crore for its “billionaire friends,” Mr Gandhi alleged that the Central government’s “economic mismanagement” has a human cost that affects thousands of honest working professionals.
“The BJP government has written off ₹16 lakh crore in loans for their billionaire friends. Cronyism, coupled with regulatory mismanagement, has pushed India’s banking sector into crisis. This burden is ultimately borne by junior employees, who endure stress and toxic work conditions,” he said in his post.
In his meeting with the ex-ICICI Bank employees in Parliament on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said that their stories reveal a disturbing pattern. “Their stories reveal a disturbing pattern — workplace harassment, forced transfers, retaliation for exposing unethical lending to NPA violators, and terminations without due process. In two tragic cases, this led to suicide. “If you are a working professional who has faced similar injustice share your story with me at https://rahulgandhi.in/awaazbharatki,” he said.
The delegation of employees had met Gandhi at his office at the Parliament House Complex. In their interaction with the Leader of Opposition, they are claimed to have alleged of unfair dismissal by the bank. They shared accounts of being “abruptly terminated” while on medical leave, during periods of sanctioned absence or for raising concerns about management practices, the Congress said in a post on X.
The employees highlighted that such practices are not isolated to ICICI Bank but reflect a broader trend across private sector banks, driven by mounting pressure to maximise profits, the ex-employees told Mr Gandhi.
