Don't let loan defaulters contest polls: Bank employees to Election Commission

CHANDIGARH: Claiming that banks were suffering huge losses due to bad debts, several bank employees have demanded that loan defaulters should not be allowed to contest Lok Sabha elections.

A letter in this regard has been written by All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) to Chief Election Commissioner, Punjab Bank Employees Federation Secretary Naresh Gaur said today.

In the letter, bank employees have said nomination of candidates who are bank loan defaulters should be rejected and the rules regarding disqualification as provided in the Constitution and Representation of People Act, 1951 be suitably amended for this purpose.

"In the letter, we have demanded that bank loan defaulters should not be allowed to contest in the coming Lok Sabha elections and they also should be debarred from holding public offices," said Gaur.

He claimed bad loans of banks had shot up from Rs 39,030 crore in March 2008 to Rs 1.64 lakh crore as on March 31, 2013.

Banks had written off Rs 1.18 lakh crore bad loans in the last five years, which has adversely affected their profitability, he claimed.