AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 61 DATED 10.06.2011

AIBOC issued its circular No. 61 dated 10.06.2011 on 7th July All India Bank Strike. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO.61                                                                10.06.2011

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

7TH JULY ALL INDIA BANK STRIKE

We reproduce hereunder the text of UFBU Circular Letter No.2011/9 dated 9th June, 2011 contents of which are self-explicit.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(G.D. NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

TEXT

Strike Notice:  The UFBU’s Notice for our proposed All India Bank Strike on 7th July, 2011 has been sent to the Indian Banks’ Association, Mumbai and Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), Government of India, New Delhi.  Copies of the Notice have also been sent to all the Bank managements.  Our unions need not serve any separate Notice on their managements.

A copy of the Strike Notice is sent herein for your information and records.  The Notice contains the justification for the various issues and demands raised by UFBU and hence is to be utilized as a campaign document.

Preparatory programmes:  All the preparatory programmes i.e., display of posters, badge wearing, demonstrations, rallies, mass meetings, submission of mass memorandum, etc. should undertaken earnestly and implemented effectively.

UFBU /  2011 / STRIKE NOTICE               8th June, 2011

FORM – 1

NOTICE OF STRIKE

NAME OF UNIONS        :    UNITED FORUM OF BANK UNIONS (U.F.B.U.)

ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION (AIBEA)

ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION (AIBOC)

NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF BANK EMPLOYEES (NCBE)

ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION (AIBOA)

BANK EMPLOYEES FEDERATION OF INDIA (BEFI)

INDIAN NATIONAL BANK EMPLOYEES FEDERATION (INBEF)

INDIAN NATIONAL BANK OFFICERS CONGRESS (INBOC)

NATIONAL ORGANISATION OF BANK WORKERS (NOBW)

NATIONAL ORGANISATION OF BANK OFFICERS (NOBO)

NAMES OF ELECTED REPREENTATIVES

Shri. C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA & Convener, UFBU

Shri. G D Nadaf, General Secretary, AIBOC

Shri. M V Murali, General Secretary, NCBE

Shri. R.J. Sridharan, General Secretary, AIBOA

Shri. Pradeep Biswas, General Secretary, BEFI

Shri. Subhash Sawant, General Secretary, INBEF

Shri. K.K. Nair, General Secretary, INBOC

Shri  Ashwini Rana, General Secretary, NOBW

Shri. S Deshpande, General Secretary, NOBO

Dated this day of 8th June, 2011 

To

The Chairman,

Indian Banks’ Association,

World Trade Centre, 6th Floor,

Cuffe Parade, Mumbai

Sir,

In accordance with the provisions contained in sub-section (1) of Section 22 of the I.D. Act – 1947, we hereby give you notice that the members of all the constituent unions of United Forum of Bank Unions (AIBEA,  AIBOC,   NCBE,  AIBOA,   BEFI,   INBEF,  INBOC,  NOBW, NOBO)  propose to go on strike on the 7th July, 2011.

Main Issues and Demands :

Ø       Do not privatise Public Sector Banks

Ø       Do not reduce Government’s equity in Public Sector Banks

Ø       Do not avail World Bank Loan to capitalise Public Sector Banks

Ø       Do not proceed with merger of Banks.

Ø       Do not allow unrestricted entry of foreign capital in banking sector.

Ø       Do not delete Section 12(2) of Banking Regulations Act 

Ø       Do not remove the ceiling on voting rights of foreign investors.

Ø       Do not issue licence to industrial houses to start their own Banks.

Ø       Do not outsource permanent banking jobs and normal banking services

Ø       Do not proceed with the scheme of private business correspondents

Ø       Do not violate provisions of Bipartite Settlement on outsourcing

Ø       Provide adequate staff in Banks through recruitments to maintain and improve customer services. Stop violation of working hours.

Ø       Revive BSRBs for recruitment of staff in Public Sector Banks.

Ø       Implement the compassionate appointment /financial compensation scheme as finalised between IBA & UFBU.

Ø       Issue revised uniform guidelines on house building loan, vehicle loan and festival advance to bank staff.

Ø       Implement 5 day banking

Ø       Regulate and define working hours of bank officers.

Ø       Improve Pension Scheme in banking sector on the lines of Central Government Scheme - updation of Pension along with wage revision of serving employees, uniform D.A. neutralization, improvement in commutation, Family Pension, Ex-Gratia of pre – 1986 retirees, etc.

Ø       Withdrawal of Government’s arbitrary instructions to Banks not to improve/amend any service condition without their permission.

Ø       Scrap Khandelwal Committee Recommendations.

Sd/-

(C.H. VENKATACHALAM)

CONVENER

Encl. :   

1. Statement of the Case
2. Details of Agitational Programme

Copy to:

Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi

CMDs/MDs/CEOs  of  All  Banks

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Do not privatise Public Sector Banks / Do not reduce Government’s equity in Public Sector Banks

We find that the Government’s equity capital in the Public Sector Banks is being diluted and reduced and consequently the private capital in our Public Sector Banks is increasing.  Public Sector Banks are nation building financial institutions and allowing private capital in these institutions will be detrimental to the implementation of the objectives of public sector banking.  With every dose of private capital, the social orientation of public sector banks get eroded.  With every dose of private capital, our Public Sector Banks are slowly and steadily moving towards privatisation of our Banks.  Hence we demand that Public Sector Banks should not be privatised and Government’s Equity Capital in our Banks should not be reduced.

Do not avail World Bank Loan to capitalise Public Sector Banks

Of late the Government has been availing loan from the World Bank in order to capitalize the Public Sector Banks.   It is learnt that so far the Government has availed World Bank Loan of Rs. 15,000 crores for this purpose.  By availing loan from World Bank, slowly the conditionalities of World Bank would be brought into the affairs and activities of our Public Sector Banks which would affect the public sector character of our Banks.  Hence we demand that the Government should retrace their policy of availing World Bank Loan to capitalize our Banks.

Do not proceed with merger of Banks

The Government has been encouraging the policy of merger and consolidation of our Public Sector Banks for the sake of global competition and efficiency.  Indian Public Sector Banks are designed and designated for our own domestic economic development, and forcing them into global competition is unwarranted.  Further, we have seen the efficiency of the global players in the recent period who have crumbled like a pack of cards, in contrast to our Banks who have not been affected by the global financial crisis.  Further when there is so much of financial exclusion in the country and financial inclusion is the priority task, what the country needs is banking expansion and not banking consolidation. Indian banking has not saturated to warrant consolidation.  India is still under-banked as far as the common masses are concerned.  Hence bank mergers are not called for.

Hence we are opposed to merger of Banks.  Government should reconsider its policy.

Do not allow unrestricted entry of foreign capital in banking sector. Do not delete Section 12(2) of Banking Regulations Act. Do not remove the ceiling on voting rights of foreign investors

The Government has introduced a Bill in the Parliament in the last Session seeking to delete the existing section 12 (2) OF THE Banking Regulation Act.  Today there is a ceiling of 10% on the voting rights of the FDI in our private sector Banks under the B R Act.  If this clause is deleted, it would facilitate full voting rights without any ceiling and proportionate to their capital investment.  This would instantly make our private sector banks vulnerable for takeover by foreign capital. 

As of last year, the capital and total Deposits of our Indian private sector Banks were as under:

	Total Capital	Total Deposits
Old Private Banks	1273 Cr	229,897 Cr
New Private Banks	3276 Cr	592,904 Cr
Total Private Banks	4549 Cr	322,801 Cr

Already the foreign capital in some of the private Banks is very high as under:

Bank	Total foreign / Non Resident Capital as % to total Capital
Indus Ind Bank	68.5 %
ING Vysya Bank	67.3 %
ICICI Bank	66.3 %
Yes Bank	58.1 %
Federal Bank	43.5 %
Dhanlaxmi Bank	30.6. %
Axis Bank	42.1 %
South Indian Bank	39.9 %
Catholic Syrian Bank	38.0 %
HDFC Bank	45.6 %
Kotak Mahindra Bank	29.8 %
Karur Vysya Bank	24.2 %

Allowing and encouraging more and more foreign capital in our Banks and that too relaxing the existing voting rights will be highly detrimental to our country’s interest.

Do not issue licence to industrial houses to start their own Banks

In August 2010 RBI has released its Discussion Paper on Entry of New Banks in the Private Sector. The idea is to allow industrial and business houses to start their own Banks.  In the recent Budget, Government has also announced its intention to go ahead with this new licencing policy.

With the introduction of new economic policies in 1991, RBI issued guidelines in 1993 and 2001 for giving licence to new private Banks with a capital induction of Rs.300 crores.

10 Banks were set up after 1993 and another 2 Banks after 2001 guidelines.  Out of these 12 new private banks, 4 were promoted by financial institutions, 1 each by conversion of a co-op Bank and an NBFC into commercial banks, 5 Banks by banking professionals and 1 Bank by a media house.

Out of the 4 Banks promoted by individuals, only 1 Bank is surviving now.  The Global Trust Bank was merged with OBC after its debacle and 2 Banks were merged with other private Banks due to lack of financial strength and bad governance.

Out of the remaining 6 Banks, Times Bank has merged with Yes Bank.  4 Banks have merged with the parent institution or re branded.

This is the track record of these new generation private sector banks started with all fanfare and open encouragement from the Government.

Now the RBI wants to liberalize its licencing policy to allow industrial and business houses to float their own Banks.

In India, we have the better experience of the role played by those private banks, which were owned and controlled by industrial houses in those days. Because of their manipulations, negative contributions and unwillingness to be part of socio-economic development, the need arose to nationalize those banks.

Today RBI wants to allow these industrial houses to start Banks!  The RBI draft also mentions that our RRBs can be handed over to these industrial and business houses!

We know there are 100 billionaires in our country with a total net worth of $ 300 Billions.  The proposed capital requirement to start a Bank is only around $ 200 million. (Rs.1000 crores). 

Hence, UFBU is opposed to this new policy and demands of the Government not to proceed with the same.

Do not outsource permanent banking jobs and normal banking services; Do not proceed with the scheme of private business correspondents ;  Do not violate provisions of Bipartite Settlement on outsourcing

The Government, the bankers and the RBI are trying to encourage the policy of outsourcing the permanent and perennial jobs in the banking industry.  They are escalating their efforts to outsource the regular jobs of the bank employees and officers.  Each Bank has unilaterally formulated their outsourcing policy to contract out the normal banking jobs.  The Bipartite Settlement between IBA and Unions provide for outsourcing of IT and its related activities in respect of specialized areas where in-house capability is not available.  But in violation of this settlement, all types of routine/non-specialised jobs are being outsourced.  Recently, the Banks are resorting to appointment of Business Correspondents who are nothing but outsourced employees and who are required to undertake our normal banking work.  Hence the policy needs to be reversed and permanent jobs should not be outsourced.

Provide adequate staff in Banks through recruitments to maintain and improve customer services. Stop violation of working hours.  Revive BSRBs for recruitment of staff in Public Sector Banks.

While there is increasing demand for improving customer service, it is observed that adequate staffs are not being provided to handle the increased volume of work.  Due to the persistent efforts and agitations in the past, some recruitments are taking place in the Banks, but the same are inadequate.  Some months ago, the Government appointed a consultant to get a report on Human Capital in Banks.  According to this Report, the PSBs would be requiring about 7 lacs employees in the next decade due to retirement and other natural wastages, etc. 

Increasing workload:

	1991	2010
No. of Branches	46,000	65,000
No. of customers	8.6 crores	58 crores
Total Deposits	2,43,000 crores	47,50,000 crores
Total Advances	1,51,000 crores	35,00,000 crores
Total Staff	9.47 lacs	9.41 lacs

In addition to the normal business requirements, the PSBs have to play a leading role in the agenda of financial inclusion.  This will also require additional manpower.  Hence adequate recruitments are a very urgent necessity. 

Revival of BSRBs:

In the recent recruitment processes in the Banks, campus recruitments, process by private recruitment agency etc. have been resorted too.  Recruitments in Public Sector Banks should be through Government agencies and a transparent system.  It is high time  that  BSRBs are revived and recruits in PSBs are done by BSRBs.

Scrap Khandelwal Committee Recommendations.

The Government appointed Khandelwal Committee has submitted its recommendations which are totally adverse to the interests of the employees/officers and our trade unions and seeks to neutralize the long-time achievements of the trade unions secured in the last more than six decades.  Some of the main recommendations are: 

i)                     To outsource all non-core jobs

ii)                   Direct Recruitment of Officers upto 50 %

iii)                  Qualification for entry level recruitment

iv)                  For Clerks: Graduation;   For Substaff: 10th Std.

v)                    Fresh Recruitments to be only in Rural and Semi Urban areas and not in metro/urban branches

vi)                  Appointment of exclusive Executive Director ( H R )

vii)                 Bank wise wage revision based on capacity to pay, profitability, productivity, etc.  instead of industry level agreements

viii)               Introduction of Variable Pay as a major component of wages and introduction of cost to company concept.

ix)                 Review all internal settlements on mobility

x)                   HR Professionals to be recruited at senior/junior levels.

xi)                 HR administration to be automated through web-based system

All these are unwarranted and provocative ideas and not acceptable to the employees and officers. These recommendations should be rejected by the Government.

Implement the compassionate appointment /financial compensation scheme as finalised between IBA & UFBU.

A uniform policy on compassionate ground appointments in the Banks has been followed since 1978 based on Government guidelines.  In 1996, based on a Supreme Court judgement, the Government advised the Banks to keep in mind the economic condition of the family while considering the employment on compassionate ground to a family member on the death of an employee.  This was also being followed by the Banks.  However, in 2004, based on Government’s advice, a new model scheme was evolved stopping all compassionate appointments.  After exhausting our efforts to restore the earlier scheme, UFBU gave a call for strike on 9-3-2006.  Based on CLC’s advice, the strike was deferred and we submitted our suggestions to the IBA.  But IBA/Government did not agree to any of our suggestions but implemented an unilateral financial compensation scheme.  Hence, UFBU gave the call for strike for 3 days in March 2007.  UFBU met the Prime Minister and Finance Minister on 19-3-2007 and 21-3-2007 and submitted our views.  Consequently, an MOU was signed on 21-3-2007 when the IBA assured that the Government would consider our suggestions and the strike was deferred. But the Government/IBA implemented again another unilateral scheme from July 2007 without considering our suggestions. 

Aggrieved by this, UFBU gave the call for strike on 12-9-2007 and again CLC intervened and advised the IBA to amicably resolve the dispute and hence the strike was deferred. Yet the issue remained unresolved and hence UFBU observed the strike on 25-1-2008 and call was given for 2 days strike on 25/26-2-2008.  UFBU met the Finance Minister on 19-2-2008, and on 25-2-008 an MOU was signed by which the strike was withdrawn.  Consequently there were discussions between IBA and UFBU in 2008/09 and in February, 2009, a mutually acceptable scheme was worked out keeping in mind the Government views, Supreme Court judgement, etc.  This scheme is still pending with the Government for the past more than 2 years.  The incidence of death while in service is very negligible in the Banks ( it ranges between 50 to 70 per year per Bank i.e. about 0.4 % only).  The IBA/Government approach on this issue is unfair and is devoid of sympathetic approach.

Issue revised uniform guidelines on house building loan, vehicle loan and festival advance to bank staff.

So far, the scheme on housing loan, vehicle loan and festival advance for the bank staff has been based on uniform guidelines from the Government.  However, recently, each Bank is revising these schemes on its own and despite repeatedly taking up the issue; there is no revised uniform guidelines either from the Government or IBA. This has resulted in disparities and discriminations in the schemes and has created heartburning amongst the employees.

Implement 5 day banking

With the introduction of technology, etc., banking services have been enabled to reach the customers more easily and basic services are available 24 x 7.  Even within the existing working hours, Banks have increased the banking hours for the benefit of the customers.  In RBI, 5 Day banking has been introduced.  Financial markets, foreign exchange markets, stock exchanges, etc. do not function on Saturday. There is no reason why Banks cannot adopt 5 Day Banking.  This was a part of our charter of Demands but this was not considered at that time. 

Regulate and define working hours of bank officers.

There can be no two opinions that officers working in the banks are also employees even though they may be discharging supervisory duties.  But in the service conditions of the officers, there is no stipulated working hours thus making them 24 hours servant.  Other than the senior Executives, the other officers in the Banks are normal employees and they are entitled to defined working hours. The absence of the same is highly unfair and draconian in nature.

Improve Pension Scheme in banking sector on the lines of Central Government Scheme - updation of Pension along with wage revision of serving employees, uniform D.A. neutralization, improvement in commutation, Family Pension, Ex-Gratia of pre – 1986 retirees, etc.

The Bank Employees Pension Scheme was introduced in 1993 based exactly on the Central Government employees pension scheme and on the same conditions i.e. by foregoing the management’s contribution to PF.  Recently, even the New Pension Scheme, as applicable to the Government employees, was forced to be implemented for the bank employees joining the Banks from 1-4-2010.  While so, when certain improvements in the Government Pension Scheme have been made in the 6th Pay Commission Report, the same are being denied to be extended to the Bank employees.  This is discriminatory and unjust. 

Withdrawal of Government’s arbitrary instructions to Banks not to improve/amend any service condition without their permission.

Recently the Government, we are informed, has advised all the Banks not to improve any service conditions of the staff without their prior permission.  This is highly arbitrary and unilateral and runs counter to the bilateral norms subsisting in the Banks over the years.  Except on issues which are governed by common Government guidelines/instructions, other service conditions should be allowed to be improved within the permitted parameters.

DETAILS OF AGITATIONAL PROGRAMMES:

From 2nd Week of June, 2011	Display of Posters
Between 1st and 15th June 2011	Submission of Mass memorandum to Bank Managements by all our unions (To Branch Managers, Regional Managers/Zonal Managers)
Between 5th & 20th June, 2011	Deputation to CMDs/MDs of all Banks to submit the Memorandum
Between 20th & 25th June, 2011	Mass Demonstrations throughout the country (date to be decided locally)
30th June, 2011	Badge Wearing
4th July, 2011	Mass Rallies, Processions, etc in all major cities and towns
7th July, 2011	ALL INDIA BANK STRIKE
	Further agitational programmes and strikes will be announced thereafter.

                                                                                                        SD/-

                                                                                    (C.H. VENKATACHALAM)

                                                                                                CONVENOR

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 60 DATED 09.06.2011

AIBOC issued its circular No. 60 dated 09.06.2011 on the short sightedness of AIBOA. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO.60                                                            09.06.2011

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

SHORT SIGHTEDNESS OF AIBOA

You are aware that, AIBOC is fighting tooth and nail against the perception of the IBA and Govt. regarding enrolling of Senior Management Grade Scale IV & V as members of Associations. The expectation of the Government of India that Senior Management Grade Officers should not join Associations in Banks is unconstitutional, as Article 19(c) of the Constitution of India provides Fundamental Rights to each and every citizen of our Country to form a Union/Association. Therefore, any rule, regulation or order to restrict the employees/officers to join a Union/Association, by any authority is null and void. Therefore, in our affiliates, Senior Management Grade Officers are members. Our few affiliates are led by these Senior Management Grade Officers. In few Banks, these Senior Management Grade Officers who are Principal Office Bearers are also nominated as officer-employee Directors on the Bank Boards by Government of India.

Unfortunately, for a shorter gain, AIBOA has suggested to the Management of Bank of Maharashtra, not to count scale IV & V officers as members of Association, at the time of verification of membership in the Bank, to ascertain majority status, for the purpose of nomination of Officer-employee Director on the Board of the Bank.

We are glad that, Bank of Maharashtra Management has not discriminated among membership of the Associations’ on the basis of grade or scale while verifying the strength of the Associations in the Bank for the purpose of nomination on the Bank’s Board, exhibiting a better maturity and respect to the provisions of the Constitution of India. The short sightedness of AIBOA to exclude Senior Management Grade Officers from the membership of the Associations did not yield expected result.

We hope that, AIBOA will keep aside its short sightedness and fall in line with the trade union principle.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(G.D. NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 59 DATED 08.06.2011

AIBOC issued its circular No. 59 dated 08.06.2011 on special allowance for officers working in North Eastern Region including Sikkim and Ladakh. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO.59                                                         08.06.2011

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

SPECIAL ALLOWANCE FOR OFFICERS WORKING IN NORTH EASTERN REGION INCLUDING SIKKIM AND LADAKH

We have addressed a letter to the Chairman, IBA for extending the North East Special Allowance to Officers who are posted from outside the Region to Offices/branches or from within the North Eastern Region in line with the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission and the facilities extended by RBI to their Officers.

Text of the letter annexed to this letter is self-explicit.

Further developments in this regard will be posted to you.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(G.D. NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

No.1452/244/11                                                     08.06.2011

To,

Shri M.D.Mallya,

Chairman,

The Indian Banks’ Association,

World Trade Centre Complex,

Centre 1, 6th Floor, Cuffe Parade,

MUMBAI – 400 005.

Dear Sir,

FACILITIES TO OFFICERS POSTED ON TRANSFER TO/OFFICERS WORKING AT OFFICES/BRANCHES OF BANKS IN THE NORTH EASTERN REGION

We draw your kind attention to our letter No.1452/144/11 dated 28.02.2011, wherein we have made a case for extending the benefit of Special Allowance to all Officers working in the North Eastern Region, including Sikkim and Ladakh irrespective of their posting to/working at offices/branches in the North Eastern Region either on transfer from outside the region or from the local area. We have requested you to consider the above keeping in view the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission where the civilian employees of the Central Government including officers of the All India Services, whether from outside the Region or from within the Region have been made eligible for the Special Allowance, from a retrospective date i.e., 01.09.2008.

We wish to bring to your kind notice the fact that, Reserve Bank of India has extended the facilities to their officers irrespective of their transfer to North Eastern Region from outside or officers from within the Region working at offices/branches of Banks and the facilities have been improved substantially.

In view of the above developments, we urge upon you to consider the North East Special Allowance to all category of Officers of North Eastern Region, which will remove the discriminations among the officers, whether from outside the Region or from within the Region.  We hope that the Special Allowance will be extended to all the Officers in line with the 6th Pay Commission Recommendations and also the facilities extended by RBI to their officers.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

(G.D. NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 58 DATED 06.06.2011

AIBOC issued its circular No. 58 dated 06.06.2011 on the proposed labour law reforms. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO.58                                               06.06.2011

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

PROPOSED LABOUR LAW REFORMS

We enclose a copy of our letter No. 1410/233/11 dated 2nd June, 2011 addressed to Shri.Mallikarjuna Kharge, Hon’ble Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Government of India, on the captioned subject, for your information.

We shall keep you posted with the developments in the matter.

With greetings,

Sd/-

(G.D. NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

No.1410/233/11                                          02.06.2011

To,

Shri. Mallikarjuna Kharge,

Hon’ble Union Minister for Labour

& Employment,

Government of India,

Parliament House,

New Delhi – 110 001.

Dear Sir,

PROPOSED LABOUR LAW REFORMS

We are extremely happy to note that, the Central Government has ultimately decided to scrap some of the old and archaic sections in Labour Laws and amend some of the Labour Laws by adding teeth to the Law; in view of the emerging environment on the labour front.

In the aftermath of the liberalisation and globalisation of our economy with the entry of Foreign Investors/Business Entrepreneurs, the labour laws have undergone metamorphic changes and some of the laws; have just remained weapons in the hands of the Govt. Officials without any teeth to them. They have remained only on paper not serving any purpose either of the Labour or their welfare.  Exploitation, of the labour in the unorganised sector still continues unabated.

 In this background, the formation of the working group on Labour Laws and Regulations under the Chairmanship of Sri.Prabhat Chaturvedi, Union Labour Secretary, is a welcome move. The Chaturvedi panel consists of representatives from state Governments, academics, and Trade Unions and would like to take a comprehensive view of the labour laws and recommend for a rational and effective legislation having a bearing on contemporary and emerging labour issues.

The proposed Labour Law Reforms should aim at:

Ø       Protecting the interests of the workers in the unorganised sector, which employees 90% of the workforce.

Ø       Doing away with contractualisation of Labour and encouraging stable employment.

Ø       Introducing labour Welfare measures for taking care of the over all well being of the labourers and their families.

Ø       Removing the special powers conferred on the Industrialists in the Special Economic Zones, who are flouting all the labour laws/rules to maximize profits.

Ø       Promulgating a national wage policy, which takes care of a proper wage structure, which is linked to risk, responsibility, health hazards, real income etc.

Ø       Promoting trade unions pursuing positive and pro-active, co-operative and collaborative approach to the goals and objectives of the govt.

Ø       Generating employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labour, development of skill and training the labour to keep pace with the changing and emerging industrial growth and development.

Ø       Re-definition of ‘workman’ to include professional workers in tune with the decision of ILO Convention, where our country is a Participant.

The above suggestions are only illustrative and not exhaustive. We wish to bring to your kind notice the fact that we are the single largest body of officers in the Banking Industry having membership of more than 2 lac.  We as a responsible trade union, have played a very vital role in the planned and concerted growth of the Banking Industry. Hence, we would like to play a role in the policy agenda of the panel and we also should be invited to participate in the deliberations. We will present our views on various labour issues to usher in a comprehensive labour legislation, which will take care of the workers’ interests and national priorities.

We hope you will include us also in the panel or we will be invited to make a presentation of our views on the many labour laws, which need to be changed thoroughly, to be in conformity with the industrial realities.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

(G.D.NADAF)

GENERAL SECRETARY

LOCKED OUT OF CAR, INDIAN BANK CMD SLAMS DOOR ON REGIONAL HEAD

Being locked out with car keys inside may be a common mistake, but a senior executive of a public sector unit (PSU) bank could pay with his job for it — for the person left stranded was his boss.

The Mumbai Zonal Manager of Indian Bank, Banabihari Panda, has been suspended for failing to provide “minimum basic courtesies” to the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) T M Bhasin on his arrival at Mumbai airport from Chennai last Thursday night.

The charge faced by Panda, who holds the rank of General Manager, is that he kept the CMD waiting at the airport for over an hour as the keys got locked in when luggage was being loaded into the car.

Panda has apologised for the incident, explaining to the Executive Director of the bank in a May 20 letter that the car got locked accidentally, resulting in the CMD being stranded for “about 25 minutes”. In the detailed reply, Pande also writes that he made alternative arrangements, hiring a taxi and arranging “two sets of new dhotis and towels” for Bhasin through a friend, and later running around till late in the night to organise a duplicate key. Finally, he says, he was able to deliver Bhasin’s luggage at the guest-house by 1 am.

The manager cites his 34 years of experience as an officer and pleads that he has always been sincere in his duties, and never took even the matter of the locked keys casually.

Panda and a junior executive had gone to the airport to receive the CMD on Thursday night. While they were overseeing loading of Bhasin’s luggage into his car, the vehicle got locked. The keys were in the ignition as the air-conditioning was on.

“...Our CMD could not enter the vehicle to proceed to guest house. CMD was made to wait for more than of hour (sic) at the airport and could leave in alternative taxi arranged without baggage,” the detailed suspension letter, sent by V Rama Gopal, Executive Director of the bank, reads.

By failing to extend “minimum usual basic courtesies” to the CMD, the suspension letter says, Panda had “failed to discharge” his duty. The letter also accuses Panda of not handling things properly and displaying behaviour “unbecoming of official in the Top Management cadre of the Bank”.

On May 21, Panda sent another letter, this one addressed to the CMD himself, recalling how the latter had asked for a two-minute silence at a meeting of general managers and zonal managers on March 23 as respect for Panda’s dead wife. “When the same Chairman and Managing Director ordered for my suspension, I could fathom the gravity of the event leading to the decision.”

Despite several attempts, Bhasin could not be contacted for a reaction. The CMD’s office staff declined to put him on the phone and dismissed the issue as an “internal matter” of the bank. The Chennai-based corporate communications manager of the bank also declined to comment

SOURCE: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Locked-out-of-car-Indian-Bank-CMD-slams-door-on-regional-head/795179/

NOTE: Expressindia.com is a part of Indian Express Group

TALENT MAPPING EXERCISE ON AT CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

Public sector banks have always enjoyed a reputation as a storehouse of talent — after all, most new private banks often poached and filled their top posts with public sector bank officials when they started out.

But this same talent has often gone unnoticed in their own banks — for various reasons, including the sheer large numbers of officers and the limited opportunities at the top.

So, many officers stagnate and lose out on opportunities because the top management in a public sector bank just didn't know whom to post for a particular position and made the decision on an ad-hoc basis. It is a classic case of an organisation not knowing its own strengths.

Well, that is a situation that could soon change in at least one public sector bank — Central Bank of India. Mr S. Sridhar, who just retired as Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, said that the bank was in the process of completing a massive talent mapping exercise. This would enable it to make better HR decisions and address the key issue of posting the right man or woman for the right job.

Handy database

He said, “All management personnel in the grade of chief managers and above, about 7,000 officers, have gone through a competency mapping exercise. We find out about their strategic thinking skills, communication skills, and their attitude and leadership qualities.

“All this has been mapped by an external professional team. We have now implemented a human resources management package and we are populating the data now. It is the best in industry.”

He elaborated on how this database will come in handy. He said, “Suppose I want an officer who knows Telugu and English and who is between the age of 40 and 45 and who has had foreign exchange experience, I'll now have a list of names with the click of a button. The entire ‘Jadhagam' or horoscope of the person is now there in our database.

“IBM is helping us with this exercise. It is likely to get ready by September this year. We will know where our strengths lie. We don't know our own people and this is a problem with all our banks.”

Career path

Mr Sridhar added that this exercise and the database will also help draw a career path for officers based on the skills or inclinations they show. For instance, an officer with credit skills will have greater opportunities in the lending department, while an officer with people skills will have an opportunity in HR.

We will also be able to post younger officers (those below the age of 40) at the branch and regional office level. This kind of deployment would be possible only if the skills and other details of all staff were captured in a system, he said.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2079229.ece

INDIA TO EMERGE AS THIRD LARGEST DOMESTIC BANKING MARKET BY 2050: PWC

Banking assets of emerging nations are likely to overtake that of G7 economies by the year 2050, with India likely to emerge as the third largest domestic banking market in the world in the next three decades, says PricewaterhouseCoopers.

According to a PwC report, total domestic credit in the E7 economies (China, India, Brazil , Russia , Mexico , Indonesia and Turkey) is likely to overtake total domestic credit in the G7 economies within the next 40 years.

The analysis also suggests that India is likely to be the fastest growing of the E7 economies and could grow faster than China in the long run.

"China will continue to grow somewhat faster than India over the next 5-10 years, but after that Chinese growth will be held back by its rapidly aging population (due in large part to its one child policy) and diminishing returns to its investment-led strategy," the study said.

In contrast, India and other emerging economies like Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey have much younger populations and faster-growing labour forces.

The banking sector in the seven emerging markets are not going to "rival" those in India and China in terms of size, but by the year 2050, they could be of the same order of magnitude as the banking sectors in countries like France and Italy from the much lower levels today.

"The banking world in 2050 will look radically different from the one we see today, with the E7 economies becoming at least as important as the G7," the report said.

Many E7 economies already have relatively profitable banking sectors, and our estimates suggest that total profits from domestic banking in the E7 will be around half those in the G7 by 2025 and larger than in the G7 before 2050, the PwC report said.

At present, the weight of the E7 in global banking assets is low so the global average looks close to the G7 average. However, overtime, this is going to change with the E7 ratio rising much faster than the G7 ratio so that "near convergence is achieved by 2050".

Retail banking sectors in emerging market economies are likely to see particularly rapid growth, since mortgage and consumer credit lending is generally not well developed yet in these markets compared with corporate and government lending.

Besides, in the next few decades E7 banks will also become major competitors in the global "war for talent".

The signs are already visible, with Russian banks hiring investment bankers from London, Chinese banks importing the US or European executives, and Indian banks attracting staff with experience of working for major G7 institutions.

"As the E7 banks internalise the knowledge of these staff, so their competitiveness in both domestic and global markets will increase," the report said.

However, some major E7 banks may also come under foreign ownership, the study said.

SOURCE: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/india-to-emerge-as-third-largest-domestic-banking-market-by-2050-pwc/articleshow/8733154.cms

BAD LOANS ARE RISING, BUT BANKS CAN ‘MANAGE', SAYS RBI'S CHAKRABARTY

Rising NPAs in the banking system are not a problem of today, but banks must improve their risk management capabilities, a senior RBI official has said.

“Banks are declaring NPAs, which are on the rise. Still we feel NPAs are not a problem. Banks will be able to manage,” Dr K. C. Chakrabarty, RBI Deputy Governor, told reporters on Saturday.

He was in the Capital to deliver the convocation address at the International Management Institute (IMI), a business school.

Dr Chakrabarty also said that banks need to improve their risk absorption capacity to withstand non-performing assets (NPAs).

At the same time, he made it clear that his assessment on NPAs cannot be any different from what banks themselves have assessed.

“We are not saying it (rising NPAs) is any alarming thing. If NPA is going up, then yes it is matter of concern and banks must initiate corrective measures to see that NPA is contained,” he said.

MODERATION IN GROWTH

On moderation in economic growth, Dr Chakrabarty pointed out that the RBI Governor, Dr Subbarao, had already told in the annual policy statement that he sees growth moderation. “That (moderation) is happening. This was expected by RBI,” he said, adding that RBI's monetary policy was tight because of inflation.

He asserted that one would have to wait till June 16 (policy review meeting) to know if monetary policy will be further tightened or the central bank will take a pause in the wake of GDP growth moderation.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2077156.ece

AFTER VIGILANCE, RBI TEAM INSPECTS CORPORATION BANK

After a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry team, an eight-member team from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started inspection at the Mangalore-based Corporation Bank, which faces complaints of irregularities in loan sanctions and appointments.

"Normally, the RBI inspection is in August and the team is headed by a deputy general manager. This time the inspection has been advanced and the inspection team is headed by a general manager," sources in the bank told IANS. Officials say the RBI inspection ahead of normal schedule is prompted by the CVC inspection.

According to officials, the RBI inspection team has started checking the loan accounts and the tender issued for appointment of information technology (IT) consultant which the CVC team too had inquired about.

SOURCE: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-04/news/29620790_1_cvc-act-inspection-team-rbi-inspection