Kerala - Kochi   

Employees oppose banking policies of Government

KOCHI: Despite rapid growth registered by banks, both in the public and private sectors, the banking sector has been witnessing uneasiness arising out of the employees’ opposition to various policies pursued by the Government.

While the increase in overall business appears to be a positive trend, the leaders of employees’ organisations are apprehensive of a negative fallout.

The All-Kerala Bank Employees’ Federation has launched a signature campaign in Kochi and other places to highlight the problems faced by the sector. The federation, an affiliate of the All- India Bank Employees’ Association, is mainly opposed to the move for reducing the Government capital contribution in public sector banks from 67 per cent to 33 per cent.

In 1969, on the eve of nationalisation, the banks had total deposits of Rs.5,000 crore. Today, the total deposits had gone up to Rs.27-lakh crore. Huge amounts of money of the people had been mobilised by the banks, federation general secretary V.J. Johnny says.

According to a survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, domestic savings constituted nearly 70 per cent of the deposits. The savings bank deposits constituted nearly 30 per cent of the total deposits. Thus, a large portion of the deposits in the banks is mostly contributed by the common people and the salaried sections.

The employees’ organisations are concerned about the trend of banks mobilising bulk deposits from corporates at high rates of interest — as high as 12 per cent. The fixed deposits of ordinary people were given a much lower interest, according to the federation leaders.

The increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) has been another worrisome issue. An average amount of Rs.10,000 crore is added up as new NPAs in the banks, according to the federation.

The employees’ organisations are unhappy that the vacancies are not filled in many banks. A recent meeting of the Oriental Bank of Commerce Employees’ Union held in Kochi pointed out that about a lakh of employees had chosen to leave the services, availing themselves of the voluntary retirement scheme.

Consequently, the workload of the bank employees has increased. Yet, the vacant posts are not filled , according to the union. The employees resented the outsourcing move.

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