This PSU bank will use Digital Technology for Transfer and Posting of Officers

Punjab National Bank(PNB) – one of the largest public sector banks in India is actively planning to use digital technology for transfer and posting of officers. Recently, PNB has launched ‘UDAAN’ portal to assess the performance of employees and as per the reports, transfers and postings would be determined and implemented through UDAAN portal and Circle Heads can only change 10% of such postings.

All India Punjab National Bank Officers’ Association has taken up this matter with the MD and CEO. AIPNBOA has requested the top management to address the shortcomings and issues that may arise due to use of technology in transfer and posting.

Performance Assessment Based on Tenure: Officer A was posted in a branch for eight months, during which the year-over-year performance declined. Officer B was then posted in the same branch for four months and managed to bring remarkable improvements. However, the digital system might unfairly penalize Officer B for the overall decline, failing to recognize the efforts and context of the shorter tenure. A more human-centric approach would consider the qualitative improvements and efforts made by Officer B during their tenure.

In cases where a branch manager has brought in significant business but faces a setback due to the withdrawal of a big-ticket deposit, the system would consider it as a performance issue. However, the Circle Head is aware of the manager’s capabilities.Quarterly Performance Reviews for Marketing Officers: Marketing officers often face issues when their performance is assessed quarter on quarter. A single bad quarter can skew their overall evaluation, disregarding external factors and cumulative progress made over a more extended period. A digital assessment system may not accurately capture the complexity of their work and the incremental improvements vital for long-term success.

Currently, officers are divided into two categories: those working in the field and those in administrative offices. If transfer and posting decisions are solely based on officers’ preferences, it would perpetuate a permanent divide. In the past, there was a practice of rotating officers between administrative offices and the field, allowing everyone to experience both aspects of the job. However, this practice has been abandoned, leading to one segment feeling dominant over the other.

These examples highlight the limitations of a digital approach in evaluating and managing human resources. What you think of this approach, let us know in the comment section.

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Bank officers’ union launches nationwide movement against privatisation

Bank officers’ union on Tuesday launched nationwide movement against proposed privatisation of stat-owned lenders. ‘Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Rally’ was held at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Tuesday attended by officers and other stakeholders from various parts of the country, the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) said in a statement.

Addressing the rally, AIBOC General Secretary Soumya Datta appealed to the government to withdraw the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which has been listed for introduction and passing in the winter session of Parliament.

“In case the government tables and passes the bill paving the way for the privatisation of the public sector banks, the bank officers will unite all the stakeholders of the banking sector and launch a nationwide agitation,” he said, urging the bankers to draw inspiration from the farmers movement.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting Budget 2021-22 earlier this year had announced the privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs) as part of disinvestment drive to garner Rs 1.75 lakh crore. The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to be introduced during the session is expected to bring down the minimum government holding in the PSBs from 51 per cent to 26 per cent.

In the last concluded session, Parliament passed a bill to allow privatisation of state-run general insurance companies. The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021, removed the requirement of the central government to hold at least 51 per cent of the equity capital in a specified insurer.

The Act, which came into force in 1972, provided for the acquisition and transfer of shares of Indian insurance companies and undertakings of other existing insurers in order to serve better the needs of the economy by securing the development of general insurance business.

Government think-tank NITI Aayog has already suggested two banks and one insurance company to Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment for privatisation. According to sources, Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank are likely candidates for the privatisation.

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Strike call by union this month to protest against merger of PSU banks

Days after bank unions called off a three-day bank strike from March 11, two unions called for another bank strike on March 27 to oppose the mega merger of PSU banks. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced yesterday that the Union Cabinet has approved the plan to merge 10 PSU banks into four larger banks. The merger comes into effect from April 1 this year.

The All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) have given a joint call for an all-India bank strike on March 27. Their demands include stopping the proposed merger of 10 PSU banks, stopping the privatisation of IDBI Bank and rollback of banking reforms, recovery of bad loans and increase of interest rate on deposits.

C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA, said, the unions have planned series of protests this month peaking with the strike on March 27. The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) has also announced a fortnight-long agitation programme to protest against the merger."Banks themselves face problems due to huge pile of bad loans. While the public sector banks made a total gross profit of Rs.150,000 crore for the year ended March 31, 2019, because of total provisions towards bad loans, etc. amounting to Rs.216,000 crore, the banks ended in a net loss of Rs.66,000 crore," Venkatachalam said.

Sitharaman, on the other hand, said the merger plan would enhance customer convenience, better branch service, higher credit flow, and lesser time in loan sanctions. Greater scale and synergy through consolidation would lead to cost benefits which should enable the PSBs enhance their competitiveness and positively impact the Indian banking system, a Finance Ministry statement said.

As per the amalgamation plan, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce would be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest public sector bank. It was decided to merge Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank. Similarly, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank are to be consolidated with Union Bank of India.

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Bank Wage Revision- Latest Circular by Banks Unions

                                                             Click on right corner of PDF to view large

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Bank, insurance unions threaten strike during Parliament’s winter session

The Co-ordination Committee of Bank, Insurance and Finance Sector Unions (CCBIFU) on Saturday said a would be called during the winter session of the Parliament if the government does not revise its policies on banking and insurance sectors.

“If the government does not revise its policies on banking and insurance sector and would continue with their existing policies, the CCBIFU will decide to go on a strike during the winter session of the Parliament in December, 2018,” Committee Chairman C.H. Venkatachalam said in a statement.
The Committee was formed to protest against what are termed as attacks on the banking and insurance sectors like foreign direct investment (FDI), disinvestment and other sectoral reforms.

The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA), General Insurance Employees All India Association (GIEAIA) and All India LIC Employees Federation (AILICEF) constitute the commitee.
While Venkatachalam, the General Secretary of AIBEA, is the Committee’s Chairman, K. Govindan, General Secretary of the GIEAIA is the Convener.
According to Venkatachalam, banks represent hard earned savings of the common people.

“Today it is more than Rs 115 lakh crore. If banks are privatised, the people’s money will be in the hands of the capitalists. The only problem in the banks is the huge bad loans due from the corporate borrowers,” he said.
“Instead of taking action to recover the bad loans, banks are sought to be handed over to them. In LIC also there are huge bad investments which are non-performing. There must be a thorough parliamentary probe into all these investments,” he added.

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AIBEA & AIBOA Joint Circular Dtd 07-01-2018

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Bank unions call for all-India strike on August 22

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella organisation of five employee unions and four officer unions of state-run banks in the country, has given notice of their decision to go on nationwide strike on 22 August 2017 to protest reforms in the banking sector and other issues.

 

"The UFBU has observed that instead of taking urgent remedial measures to recover the alarmingly increasing bad loans in the banks which are threatening to drive the banks into a serious crisis. Steps like memorandum of understanding (MoU), prompt corrective action (PCA), Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, Ordnance on non-performing assets (NPAs), and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) are only aimed to clean the balance sheets at the cost of the banks, which represent hard earned savings of the people, instead of recovering money," says CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary of All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA).

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Bank workers to go on strike on February 28

Around 10 lakh bankers will now go on strike on February 28 to demand recovery of bank loans that have since turned bad and action against willful loan defaulters as well as solution to cash crunch post-demonetization, a top union leader said on Tuesday.

"Earlier, three unions had given the strike call. But now all the nine bank unions have agreed to go on strike and hence the February 7 strike has been withdrawn," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), told IANS.

He said around 10 lakh bankers -- ranging from officers to clerks -- belonging to nine unions will resort to strike on February 28.

The three unions that gave the February 7 strike call were AIBEA, All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI).

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