Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Bank employees to strike work on October 27

Staff Reporter

Seek second option to join pension scheme

CHENNAI: About 10 lakh bank employees, belonging to the United Forum of Bank Unions, will go on a nation-wide strike on October 27 to press for a second option to join the pension scheme and protest some of the policies of the banking sector.

The Banking Employees Federation of India (BEFI), one of the member bodies of the forum, says that when the pension scheme was introduced in the early 1990s, employees were told to choose between the pension scheme and the provident fund scheme.

Many failed to opt for the pension scheme owing to a clause that if they went on strike, their past service would not be taken into account. This clause was deleted in 1997, but the option had been closed by then.

They want the Indian Banking Association to give them a second chance to opt for pension, especially since PF and deposit rates are on the decline.

However, a senior banking official told The Hindu that "banks' profitability will not be enough" to handle any more pension demand.

The BEFI says the Government's new pension scheme, which calls for a defined contribution by employees but offers an undefined pension, is dangerous. Since the funds will be invested in the stock market, BEFI joint secretary K. Krishnan says: "The motive of the new pension scheme is to divert lakhs and crores of rupees to the stock market to the benefit of foreign institutional investors and to the detriment of ordinary Indian workers." The employees are also calling for the revival of compassionate appointment of spouses and wards of employees who die in harness.

The BEFI is opposed to outsourcing of normal banking services to private agents on a commission and contract basis. Instead, it wants the Government to fill the one lakh banking vacancies and open new branches in rural areas.

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