KOCHI: It may be hard to believe, but a daily wage labourer earns more than a PSU bank clerk earns in Kerala. In fact, the starting salary of PSU bank employees is lower than even a primary school teacher, going by a presentation made by the All-India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), at the wage negotiations. As per the AIBOC comparison, a bank clerk gets a starting salary of Rs 15,000 per month, which is much lower than the salaries of the other similar white-collar employees, including Central Government officers, college lecturers and even primary school teachers. A primary school teacher earns Rs 31,000 per month, same as what a bank officer earns. A Central Government employee enjoys a starting salary of Rs 52,000 per month. But, the top earner is the college lecturer, at Rs 56,000 per month.
AIBOC also noted that a daily wage labourer gets Rs 750, which is higher than the Rs 500/day a PSU bank clerk gets. Pressing home their demand for wage hike, the unions pointed out that the operating profit of PSU banks for the fiscal 2013-14 stood at Rs 1,27,000 crore. If the wage hike demand is met, the total outgo would only be about Rs 6,000 crore for 10 lakh PSU bank employees.
But, when it comes to writing off loans, especially corporate loans, the banks are quite liberal. According to the AIBOC, the PSU banks have written off Rs 34,409 crore worth loans in 2013-14. Following talks with the Indian Banks Association, which upped the hike offer by 1.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent, the bank unions have deferred the one-day nationwide strike planned for Wednesday. The talks are expected to continue on Wednesday. The bank unions are also planning a complete shutdown of the banking industry from January 21 to 24. The unions have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from March 16, if demands are not met.
HC restrains bank from passing final order in departmental inquiry against union leader Subhash Sawant- Times of India 16th April 2015
MUMBAI: In a major relief to veteran trade union leader Subhash Sawant, the Bombay high court has restrained the Central Bank of India from passing a final order in a departmental inquiry against him."The inquiry may go on, however final order may not be passed until further orders," Justice V M Kanade and Justice A R Joshi observed in a brief order.
The Central Bank of India employees union led by Sawant had taken out a procession against the bank in November. The union's contention was that the bank was facing a heavy resource crunch owing to steady growth in non-performing assets and poor recovery.
The union had demanded that the bank issue a red-corner notice against defaulters who had fled the country and that the management should take all employees and unions into confidence to draft a strategy to improve the performance of the bank.
Taking strong objection to the union's stand, a show-cause notice was served on Sawant, who retired six years ago, under the Pension Regulations, 1995. The bank contended that as a retired employee, Sawant's action had damaged the image of the bank and it amounted to misconduct.
Assistant general manager P N Ramanarayana wrote in a two-page notice to Sawant: "As a retired employee, Sawant has failed to maintain good conduct, which is evident from the news appearing in a section of the media ... he has disclosed the names of borrowers... his act constitutes a grave misconduct."
In his reply, Sawant submitted that the trade union had informed the management about the agitation and its intention to disclose the list of defaulters.
"The list of defaulters was on the bank's notice board," Sawant said.
Both the union as well as Sawant filed a writ petition before the high court, saying it was beyond the powers of the bank to conduct a departmental inquiry against a retired employee and reduce his pension.
A week ago, the court passed a three line order restraining the bank from passing a final order in the departmental inquiry until further orders.
Recovery of bad loan crucial for success of Make in India: Shiv Sena-23.04.2015
MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch a special drive to recover outstanding loans to mobilize funds for the successful implementation of the Make-in-India mission.In a letter to Modi, Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member Gajanan Kirtikar said a comprehensive action will have to be drafted for recovering loans to the tune of Rs 2.36 lakh crore which have been disbursed by nationalized banks.
Kirtikar suggested that for recovering the loans in a time-bound period, nationalized banks should dispose of properties of erring industrial houses. "In view of the SC verdict in the case of Sahara group chairman Subrato Roy and other landmark rulings in Maharashtra, nationalized banks should follow the same route to recover outstanding loans," Kirtikar said.
He pointed out that a section of prominent trade unions in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai had launched an agitation not for pay revision or promotion but demanding recovery of bad debts. "I was told that bank employees are under constant stress lest their employers go into liquidation. To highlight the status of bad debts, workers had resorted to agitation. A whistleblower, Subhash Sawant, has filed a PIL despite the fact that the bank has initiated steps to stop his pension," the Sena MP said.
Kirtikar said utmost care should be taken that the drive should not halt on account of procedural or legal grounds.
"The drive should be carried out without fear or favour. Once the drive is launched, it will send a strong message to the debtors and the banks that outstanding loans will be recovered at any cost and the Centre will not write them off as was done in the past," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment