On the heels of the wage revision for commercial bank employees, the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) now wants the Finance Ministry to announce wage revision for the staff of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

This bank employees body is also now demanding that RRBs wage revision be made part of the industry level wage settlement since they are doing the same job like staff of commercial banks, C H Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA told businessline.

AIBEA has written a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking her attention on the matter of RRB wage revision. Finance Minister has also been requested to advise the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the finance ministry to issue the necessary notification for the same, Venkatachalam said.

The recent Bipartite settlement involving bank employees was signed on March 8 this year. 

It was in April 2021 that the RRB staff and officers’ wages were last revised. This came on the heels of the signing of the 11th Bipartite Settlement between IBA and bank employees in November 2020.

Currently RRBs do not give mandate to the Indian Banks Association (IBA) to be covered by the Bipartite settlement. 

In 1975 when RRBs were started, they were given lesser wages as compared to bank employees. Then the issue went to Supreme Court, which held that wage parity need to be maintained between commercial bank employees and RRBs staff. 

Hence every time after each Bipartite Settlement, the government / Department of Financial Services issues a notification to extend the same wage increase to RRBs.

There are about 43 RRBs (as of 2021) in India and these entities are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

India’s RRB journey started in 1975. RRBs were conceived as hybrid micro-banking institutions, combining the feel and familiarity of the cooperatives and business acumen of the commercial banks with the mandate to serve the credit needs of the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, socio-economically weaker section of the population for development of agriculture, trade, commerce, industry and other productive activities.

Over the years, the number of RRBs went up to as high as 196. Between 1987 and 2005, the number of RRBs remained at 196.However, post 2005 there has been gradual drop in the number of RRBs in the country with successive governments encouraging consolidation.

In 2022, the government was even toying with the idea of having one large RRB in each State, after ushering in more consolidation. Currently, the Centre owns 50 per cent stake in each RRB, while the Sponsor Bank has 35 per cent and the remaining 15 per cent is with the State government.

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