The Hindu Business Line : Urge courts to act fast on NPA suits, unions told

More than a lakh crore rupees of NPAs are now stuck in court battles, according to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Karnataka Bank Ltd, Mr Anantakrishna.

Addressing the 14th conference of the Karnataka Bank Officers' Organisation here on Sunday, he urged the unions to take up this issue at the appropriate fora. Bank managements had also taken up this issue, he said.

"I am sorry I have to tell you that the judiciary of the country is still archaic. The decision is given within a month or two in most other countries. Here banks are fighting the cases for up to 20 years. Our bank is still fighting the cases of 1979 and 1986," he said.

The old private sector banks, which were 20 in numbers, have the market share of around 3.5 per cent in the country. These banks are the hard hit in the economy in the present day circumstances, Mr Anantakrishna said.

Stressing the need for maximisation of collective performance to improve the economy, he said cordial relationship between the workforce and managements would lead to progress. "We are the example for that," he said. The market share of the bank has increased from 0.4 per cent six years ago to 0.65 per cent now. service , he said.

Stating that the bank never opt for voluntary retirement scheme he said, "on the other hand, we are recruiting people". He added skilled workforce is the need of the bank. Highlighting the widely distributed public share-holding pattern of the bank, he said it was its strength.

Stating that no individual has a majority stake in the bank, he said the bank belongs to 4,400 employees, 92,000 shareholders and 26 million customers. "It is a real public bank and we should see that we reach further heights," he added.