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The Centre should probe the role of Officer-Directors and Workmen-Directors on the boards of public sector banks during 2008-2014 when non-performing assets had shot up the most.
KS Bhat, All-India Vice-President of Syndicate Bank Staff Association (SBSA), said that even the Reserve Bank did not take adequate precaution against indiscriminate lending carried out during this period.
‘Sending shock waves’
He also appealed to the apex bank to desist from “sending shock waves through the government” and thus creating an “embarrassing situation to it and the banking industry at large”.
Bhat said this while addressing a regional meeting of the the SBSA, an affiliate of the Bharathiya Mazdoor Sangh. He is also General Secretary of the Syndicate Bank Retired Staff Association.
While welcoming the move for selling the shares of public sector banks to employees, he cautioned that this should be subjected to reasonable restrictions.
“Such a move would obviously bring a sense of belonging and commitment. Workmen and officers’ representatives on the boards have miserably failed them for over the past four decades. They have failed not only in fulfilling the aspirations of employees but also in upholding the spirit of workers’ participation in management,” Bhat added.
The situation in today’s banking is unfortunate with no one willing to take a business decision in fear of going wrong or getting punished.
Officers disillusioned
Most of the senior officers in public sector banks are disillusioned because they are not being heard properly and their grievances not attended to at the higher levels.
Referring to some cosmetic operational-level changes at Syndicate Bank, he said that shifting some offices from Manipal to Bengaluru would not fetch business or improve efficiency.
Before attempting such changes, the top management should have had a meaningful dialogue with the trade unions and provide proper infrastructure for the smooth change-over in the system.
Denouncing such 'futile and pointless exercises,' he said the management should instead concentrate on the business of good governance.
The management should walk the path of good human relations and seek to mitigate the genuine problems of the employees and create a congenial atmosphere at all levels.
The ensuing all-India conference of the SBSA at Udupi on November 24 and 25 will deliberate on the issue of shifting of vital departments of the bank to Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, the Syndicate Bank Retired Staff Organisation has submitted a memorandum to the management to pass necessary instructions to the authorities concerned to recalculate and disburse arrears of gratuity in light of the awards of various competent authorities recently.
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