The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), representing more than 7.5 lakh bank employees across the country, has demanded increase in the interest rates for savings banks deposits and improvement in the Bonus and Gratuity Act.

"The Budget presented in the Parliament by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee talks of reducing the interest rates on loans. The Budget has proved to be a disappointment," C H Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA said.

The Budget is totally silent on the issue of fifty lakh workers losing their jobs, he said.

"No budgetary allocation has been provided for real employment generation and also no outlay has been proposed for increasing the public investment so as to spur the demand," Venkatachalam said.

Even though the Budget does not spell out the details of the reform agenda, the government is all set to implement the reforms. In PSUs, encouragement of people's participation in disinvestment is nothing but an open door for privatisation, he said.

"For public sector banks, though promises have been made for capital infusion, the Budget did not provide any allocation outlay," Venkatachalam added.