Bank can publish defaulter's photo in newspapers: High Court

MUMBAI: Bombay High Court today refused to stop publication of photographs of a defaulter firm in newspapers, saying that it was in larger public interest.

The division bench of Justices V M Kanade and M S Sonak refused to grant relief to the firm D J Exim and its directors. 
 

State Bank of India, on October 10, had issued the firm a letter warning that if it did not repay loan amount, photographs of the directors would be published in national newspapers.

The company moved the High Court against this saying no rule permits banks to publish photos.

"They cannot embarrass the defaulters like this. According to the rule only name and address can be published," the firm's lawyers argued.

However SBI counsel Aspi Chinoy pointed out that the company had defaulted on repayment of Rs 53 crores.

"This is not disputed. They are admitted defaulters. We are only stating this fact to the public," he argued, and said the bank "does not resort to such stringent measures" in each and every case.

Accepting this argument, High Court observed that publishing of photographs serves the purpose of creating awareness and cautioning prospective clients. 

"In our view, there would be no impediment to publication of photos of the defaulters. There is no legal bar which expressly prohibits the bank from publishing photos.

"However, the decision to resort to such measures should be taken by a very senior level official not below the rank of General Manager of the bank. In this case, due process was followed and the decision cannot be faulted," the court said. 
 

It, however, said that SBI's earlier undertaking that it would not publish the photos pending hearing of the petition would remain in effect for three more weeks, to enable the petitioner company to appeal in the apex court.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/bank-can-publish-defaulters-photo-in-newspapers-high-court/articleshow/26537585.cms

Banks to provide adequate security and safety to the public transacting through ATMs.

AIBOA's Circular Letter No.9/VI/2013

November 23, 2013

To:

ALL UNITS / STATE COMMITTEES

Dear comrades,

PROFIT NOT AT THE COST OF PUBLIC

Any Time Money [ATM] the alternative delivery channel brought into the Banking system, during first decade of reform in India, has unleased new working environment [ie];

i]          The service providers are entrusted with the contract of cash management, maintaining sufficient cash in the ATMs, watch and ward staff appointed on contract.

ii]         Installation of ATM machines by the firms with Global exposure

iii]        Access to money by any passerby etc.

            The recent attack of a female officer staff working in “Corporation Bank, Bengaluru” while remaining inside the ATM, clearly expose the lackadaisical attitude of the Bank managements in providing safety and security to the public at large and also the staff appointed on contract or otherwise to attend to the assignment.

There is a definite disconnect between the Branch and the ATM outfit in all respects. 

ATMs have been programmed to deal with a dozen jobs handled by the present workforce at the counter.  

With no immediate liability to the service provider to compensate the user on account of the physical assault as that of the one happened at Bengaluru, public at large are always at risk and loss of peace.  

The safety and security of the property and also of human lives are necessarily to be protected and preserved.

            The outsourcing business model agreed by the Bank management is necessarily under the “cost cutting exercise” dictated and directed by the controller and also the owner of the Public Sector Banks.  

Visible job losses, now attack on the security of life of the customer and also of the staff, are more and more becoming the order of the day.  

This menace has to be fought tooth and nail.

            The tendency of the Bank managements to shift their responsibility in the event of calamity is well known and also experienced by the public time and again.  

As the saying goes, “People money for People welfare”, it is time for the Bank managements to reasonably respond to this grave situation created due to poor execution of service contracts by out sourced agencies.

Our Organisation congratulates the Govt. of Karnataka for its immediate steps to secure the life of the citizens in the state and also directed the Bank managements to provide adequate security in the  ATMs within three days lest to close the ATMs in the State.

AIBOA directs the affiliated units and State Committees to take up with Central office of the Banks having the headquarters in their State to provide adequate security and safety to the public transacting through ATMs.

Yours comradely,

/S.NAGARAJAN/

GENERAL SECRETARY

RBI extends Liquidity Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Incremental credit to Medium Enterprises to qualify as Priority Sector

The Medium Sector (as defined vide notification No.S.O.1722(E) dated October 5, 2006 of the Ministry of Small Scale Industries) is also facing liquidity tightness. 

In order to enhance credit delivery to the medium sector, it has been decided to include, as eligible priority sector lending, incremental credit, including export credit, extended to the medium enterprises by the scheduled commercial banks (excluding RRBs) over the outstanding credit as on November 13, 2013. The facility will be available upto March 31, 2014 and will be within the overall target of 40 per cent.

Background

The liquidity support comes in the wake of slowdown in the economy which has resulted in liquidity tightness in a large number of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the manufacturing and services sector, particularly due to delayed settlement of receivables from large corporate, Public Sector Undertakings and government departments.

Alpana Killawala
Principal Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2013-2014/1009

Banks rushing to beef up security

Hyderabad, Nov. 25:  

Banks are now busy reviewing the security arrangements at their ATMs in the wake of the attack on a customer in Bangalore last week.
Till recently, the decision to post a guard at an ATM depended on a bank’s perception about the risks to its assets/cash in that location.
“But now, we need to look for new guidelines as the customers also needed to be protected,” M. Bhagavantha Rao, Managing Director, State Bank of Hyderabad, told Business Line here. The bank is in the process of roping in more security agencies to get guards posted at all its ATMs across States.
State Bank of India, which has the largest network of ATMs, is also working on the same.
“Actually, all our off-site ATMs have got security. However, sometimes, the guards could be absent. We are conducting meetings with security service providers to ensure continuous presence of guards,” C. R. Sasikumar, Chief General Manager, SBI, said.
The first priority for banks, however, is to arrange for guards at ATMs in Bangalore as the State Government has ordered shutdown of unmanned ATMs. Already, over 700 ATMs have been shutdown by the police as banks failed to post guards.

Cost matters

According to an official of a leading private bank, which has a number of unmanned off-site ATMs, banks should not be made liable for the entire security.
“There is a cost angle to it, as each ATM will need three guards. If we are doing everything, then what are the police for? The cost will ultimately be passed on to customers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the customers, especially women, are a worried lot. As some banks have more than one ATM in the same kiosk, there is little privacy and one cannot be sure of the intention of the other person in the room, said P. Malathi, a Polaris employee, after coming out of an Axis Bank ATM here.

Discipline needed

The mere presence of security is not enough; proper discipline must be ensured, said P. Raghu, a customer. “We often come across guards who are drunk or asleep.’’
According to Reserve Bank of India data, there were 1.14 lakh ATMs in the country as on March 2013, a 19.2 per cent growth over the previous year.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/banks-rushing-to-beef-up-security/article5390594.ece

Lackadaisical attitude of the Government/IBA in the area of wage negotiations

AIBOA'S Circular No.17/VI/2013

November 22, 2013

To:

ALL UNITS / STATE COMMITTEES

Dear comrades,

UNCONCERNED ATTITUDE FORCE

THE UNIONS TO GIVE THE STRIKE CALL

ON 19^TH DECEMBER 2013. 

The meeting originally fixed to be held on 21^st November 2013 at Mumbai was preponed to the Wednesday the 20^th November 2013 at 15.00 hrs at Chennai.  

The representatives of Unions had the benefit of the sharing of the information of the meeting held with Government of India at Delhi on 14^th November 2013.  Between the last meeting held on 11^th October 2013 and till this meeting, the development in the Banking arena and also the oft repeated proposals of mergers and takeovers echoed through the press by the Controller of the financial system, forced the representatives to resist the proposed moves through collective and decisive strength of Bankmen.

As the issues affecting the Industry and also the workforce are equally important, it was decided unanimously to call upon the entire workforce to observe the Strike on 19.12.2013.

We call upon the members and Units to make all out preparations to execute the call of strike with seriousness.

Onward to strike on 19^th December 2013.

Yours comradely,

/S.NAGARAJAN/

GENERAL SECRETARY

---

The content of the communication released by the Convenor UFBU is reproduced:

“A meeting of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) was held in Chennai yesterday i.e., 20^th November 2013 under the chairmanship of Com. K K Nair, Chairman of UFBU and the representatives of all constituent unions/associations of UFBU were present.

The developments in the areas of wage negotiations, reform policies of the Government in the banking sector, the speed with which the Government is proceeding in implementation of reforms were reviewed and extensive deliberations were made on the issues confronting the bank employees.

The meeting noted with concern, the lackadaisical attitude of the Government/IBA in the area of wage negotiations that resulted in inordinate and undue delay in the process of negotiations.  Taking into consideration the insignificant progress in the process of negotiations despite a lapse of more than a year since commencement of the process and the financial pressure on employees due to high inflation, the representatives of all constituent unions of UFBU unanimously decided to press the demands through agitation programmes including strike action as there is no positive response from the Government/IBA to settle the 10^th Bipartite Wage Settlement at the earliest.

The meeting also expressed its strong protest against the various measures being taken by the Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the name of financial reforms inasmuch as the proposals like allowing foreign banks to enter India in a big way with near ‘national treatment’, which would enable them to take over our banks, the discussion paper released by RBI recently on Banking Structure in India and the thinking of RBI to consider granting of licenses to open Private and Foreign Banks under New Bank Licensing Policy, etc., are designed to eliminate the public sector character in the Country which are not in the interests of general public, who have faith and feel more secured with the Public Sector Banks. 

Further, the meeting condemned the recent decision of NABARD to convert the Primary Agriculture Co-operatives (PACs) as Business Correspondent (BC) of District Co-operative Credit Banks (DCCBs), thereby around 2.2 lac permanent employees working in PACs would be affected and adopted a resolution extending solidarity support to the agitating employees of PACs.

Considering all the above aspects, the meeting decided to give a call for     

All India Bank Strike for one day on 19^th December 2013 demanding

·         IMMEDIATE WAGE REVISION

·         TO STOP BANKING REFORMS

Details of agitation programmes will be issued in due course.

The representatives of all the constituent Unions of UFBU further decided to meet on 23^rd December 2013 to review the position and chalk out further agitation programmes, if need be.

Comrades, there is no significant progress in the 10^th Bipartite Wage negotiations even though it was initially assured by IBA to conclude the wage negotiation process at the earliest.  It is disappointing to note that even the rate of increase is not yet offered by the negotiating authorities despite the lapse of more than a year.  We are left with no option except to resort to agitation programmes including strike action.

Comrades, let us march on with all the strength at our command and make agitation programmes a grand success not only to achieve reasonable wage increase at the earliest but also to thwart the anti-public and anti-national moves of the policymakers in the name of financial reforms.”

SARFAESI Act most effective tool to recover bad loans: Report

 Facilitates recovery without intervention of courts
Mumbai, Nov. 22:

Amidst rising non-performing loans, the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (Sarfaesi Act) was the most potent tool in the hands of banks for recovering bad loans. 
 
The Sarfaesi Act empowers banks and financial institutions to recover their non-performing assets without the intervention of courts. 
 
The Act provides three alternative methods for recovery of non-performing assets — securitisation, asset reconstruction and enforcement of security — without the intervention of courts.

According to the RBI’s Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India, 2012-13, banks have recovered Rs 18,500 crore through the Sarfaesi route. Also, in terms of efficiency, the Act has proved to be more effective than the debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) or mediation by Lok Adalats. 
 
Pratip Chaudhuri, former SBI Chairman, in an interview to Business Line in September had said that stay orders by DRTs led to delay in recoveries. 
 
“Under the Sarfaesi Act, notice is served and two-months’ time is given to the borrower to discharge his liabilities, but Debt Recovery Tribunals (despite clear instructions from the Supreme Court that they cannot give stay orders on Sarfaesi) are still giving stay orders. And not one (order) has been justified.

“Eventually, the stay order is lifted but in the process one to one-and-a-half years is lost, without any benefit to anybody,” he had said. 
 
Also, the rising levels of stress across the banking system was reflected in the fact that the number of cases under all the three mechanisms saw a massive increase of 66 per cent to 10.45 lakh cases.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/sarfaesi-act-most-effective-tool-to-recover-bad-loans-report/article5380301.ece

Improve the effectiveness of the recovery system – RBI

 Mumbai, Nov 21:  

The pressure on the loan quality of banks remains a major challenge in the short term, the Reserve Bank of India has warned. 
 
The central bank said stress tests indicate that if the current macroeconomic conditions persist, the credit quality of commercial banks could deteriorate. To mitigate the problems of rising bad loans, the RBI wants banks to strengthen their due diligence, credit appraisal, and post-sanction loan monitoring. 
 
In its report, Trend and Progress of Banking in India, 2012-13, released on Thursday, the RBI observed that the banking system’s loan quality, primarily in the industrial and infrastructure sectors, has deteriorated significantly during the year and there was an increase in total stressed assets. 
 
The banking system’s total stressed assets (bad loans plus restructured standard loans) rose to 9.2 per cent of total advances as on March-end 2013 against 7.6 per cent as on March-end 2012.

Key factors

While the primary driver of the deteriorating loan quality was the domestic economic slowdown, other factors such as delays in obtaining statutory and other approvals as well as lax credit appraisal/monitoring by banks were also significant. Further, higher credit concentration in certain sectors and higher leverage among corporates also increased the stress on loan quality. 
 
The report cautioned that “in recent years there has also been a sharp increase in the amount of debt restructured under the corporate debt restructuring mechanism… this has implications for banks’ already stressed loan quality in the period ahead.” The deterioration in asset quality was most perceptible for the SBI group with its NPA ratio reaching a high of 5 per cent at end March 2013. 

“Deterioration in asset quality in 2012-13 was primarily on account of the non-priority sector,” the RBI said. 

FY13 was marked by a slowdown in the growth of credit to all productive sectors — agriculture, industry and services. The slowdown was the sharpest for agriculture and allied activities which grew a mere 7.6 per cent at Rs 5,89,900 crore. 
 
Within industry, there was a slowdown in the growth of credit to the infrastructure sector. But bank credit to the sensitive sectors almost doubled to Rs 10,20,600 crore in 2012-13, primarily due to credit to the real estate sector. 

The retail loans portfolio continued to grow in double digits, as in the previous year.

Improve recovery

The RBI said there is a need to improve the effectiveness of the recovery system. It flagged the urgent need to accelerate the working of Debt Recovery Tribunals and Asset Reconstruction Companies. 

Recovery should be focused on efficiency and fairness — preserving the value of the underlying assets and jobs where possible, even while redeploying unviable assets to new uses and compensating employees fairly. 

 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/rbi-troubled-by-loan-quality-of-banks/article5375859.ece?homepage=true

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the first branch of Bharatiya Mahila Bank

                                                    

       

Mumbai, Nov 19:  

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the first branch of Bharatiya Mahila Bank today in the iconic Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai with an area of 5,000 sq ft space on the ground floor. 
 

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was also present at the inaugural ceremony. Sonia Gandhi said that this was an appropriate tribute to the memory of Indira Gandhi, former prime minister on her birth anniversary. 
 

Finance Minister P.Chidambaram recollected the promise he had made in his budget speech earlier this year to start a bank for women. Complimenting the start-up team that was guided by M.B.N.Rao, former chairman and managing director, Canara Bank, Chidambaram said that from today, the board of directors of the bank would be a 8-member all-women board. He hoped that the bank would remain not merely a symbol but the substance of empowerment of women. 
 

The bank, which is the first bank started in the public sector space by an Act of Parliament (other banks in public sector were nationalised in two tranches in 1969 and 1980) begins with a capital base of Rs 1,000 crore. 
 

The bank is being started with seven branches ( Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow) initially. This will soon be followed by two other branches at Delhi and Indore – the delay is in deference to the elections being held there. The bank plans to reach a branch size of 25 in the next four months and thereafter add about 75 banks every year. 
 

In due course, overseas branches too will be opened, Chidambaram said.

The all-women’s bank will predominantly serve women, though deposits will be taken from men too. The credit growth is expected to be at a compounded annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent during the 2010-2030, while the deposit growth is expected to stay at 14.6 per cent for the 20 years period,” Chidamabarm said at the inauguration of the Bhartiya Mahila Bank on the eve of former and India’s first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary. 
 

Usha Ananthasubramanian, who was the Executive Director of Punjab National bank, will be the Chairperson of the bank. 
 

According to the Finance Minister, only 28 per cent of the women in India have admitted of have opened a bank account and the per capita credit to women is 80 per cent lower. The all-women’s bank will focus on centres where working women population is significant, including self-help groups.

"We must move away from restructuring” deputy governor, RBI

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India's crackdown on rising bad loans may include incentivising banks to set up an early warning system for likely defaults and not allowing them to use restructuring as a ploy to defer providing for such non-performing assets (NPAs) and thus window-dressing their balance sheets.

   

Central bankers from governor Raghuram Rajan to  deputy governor KC Chakrabarty and executive director B Mahapatra have been issuing unequivocal signals that  they're dead set on cleaning up the banking system.  "We must move away from restructuring; there should not  be any category called restructuring," Chakrabarty told a  bankers' conference at the weekend. "The moment it is  restructured, it should be declared as NPA. There should not  be any technical write-off... be prepared for that.'' A technical  write-off is removing a bad loan from the books because it can't  be recovered.

The RBI under Rajan, who took over in September, has been taking a tough stance against loan restructuring as many are said to be gaming the system that's designed to bail out companies affected by external economic factors. Since 2000, Indian banks have written off more than Rs 1 lakh crore in bad loans, many of which first went through the restructuring process.

"In the next few weeks, we will announce measures to incentivise early recognition, better resolution and fair recovery of distressed loans," Rajan told the BANCON conference. "We will focus on putting real assets back to work in their best use. Here again, you bankers have a critical role to play by fighting the natural incentives that are built in to the system. You have to help those with genuine difficulty while being firm with those who are trying to milk the system. with every means at our disposal.                                                                                            

The early detection incentives may be announced in a week's time, Mahapatra indicated.

Although the rules for restructuring have been tightened, some companies are taking undue advantage of the process, officials have said. For instance, promoters borrow money and disguise this as equity when it's actually debt. The governor has made his stance clear on the misuse of restructuring provisions. "The natural, and worst, way for a bank management with limited tenure to deal with distress is to 'extend and pretend' to evergreen the loan, hope it recovers by a miracle, or that one's successor has to deal with it," Rajan has said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/finance/rbi-prods-banks-for-recovery-of-bad-loans/articleshow/25963051.cms 
 

RBI has declared a war againt rising bad loans

Reserve Bank of India deputy governor KC Chakrabarty said banks should cut all banking channels of willful defaulters to prevent rising loss of assets. Chakrabarty said banks should make use of the credit information bureau to share details of wilful defaulters and shun them entirely.

"Close all their bank accounts. Don't allow them to do any banking transaction," Chakrabarty said in Kolkata at an event organised by MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry. RBI has declared a war against rising bad loans ever since Raghuram Rajan took charge as governor in early September.

Rajan said that no promoter has the "divine right" to abuse the banking system. 

RBI's statistics show that net non-performing assets ratio (NPA) of all banks taken together risen to 1.68% of the total loan at the end of 2012-13, from 1.28% a year back.

Net NPA of the 26 public sector banks, including State Bank of India, rose to 2.02% during the year as compared to 1.53%.

Canara Bank expects over 25% credit growth in FY14

NEW DELHI: Canara Bank is expecting a credit growth of over 25 per cent in the current financial year, while deposits are likely to grow by 17 per cent, a top official said here today.

"We are expecting over a 17 per cent deposit growth in the current fiscal and in credit we are expecting over 25 per cent growth," Canara Bank CMD R K Dubey told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on 'Financial Inclusion for Reviving Growth', organised by CII.
 

Canara Bank's net profit in the second quarter of 2013-14 fell by 5.3 per cent to Rs 625.94 crore on sharp increase in bond yields.

Dubey said the bank is focusing on ensuring good service and prompt delivery as part of its growth strategy and it will emphasise on lending to the priority sector.

"Priority sector, agriculture, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) are the areas we are focusing. New sectors such as road and infrastructure are also coming up (for borrowing)," he said.

He said the bank has brought down net NPAs to 2.64 per cent in the second quarter.

"...So we have worked hard to control the NPAs. We have improved recovery, as well as credit. Asset quality is controlled," he added.
 
On bank's expansion plans, he said so far 500 branches have been opened in the current financial year and the bank is expected to open about 300 more branches before March 2014.

Over 34,000 PSU bank branches set to lose Windows XP support: Study

Over 34,000 branches of Indian public sector banks would become vulnerable as the popular Windows XP operating system would no longer be supported by Microsoft in about 150 days, shows a study conducted by the software giant. 
 
The study on the Indian banking sector, conducted by Ascentius Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, said penetration of Windows XP in the sector is as high 70 per cent. 
 
“Some 34,115 Indian PSU bank branches are at risk, thanks to their reliance on Windows XP. Windows XP will no longer be supported by Microsoft, beginning April 8, 2014, but the study shows that the penetration of Windows XP in the banking sector is still high at 40-70 per cent,” Microsoft said in a release. 
 
Amongst the greatest risks facing banks that maintain their Windows XP installations, despite the end of support, are their ability to respond to customers and manage waiting times, it added. 
 
“The fiscal impact of this could be as much as a loss of business opportunity worth Rs 1,100 crore in a day and a loss of income worth Rs 330 crore over a period of 3 days (assuming that a major incident may take 3 days for the systems to come up to normal functioning),” the study said. 
 
A large number of branches that rely on XP, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas may go down and therefore completely “deny service” to customers, it said.
In metro and urban branches, the impact may be as great as 55 per cent of customers face an extended waiting time of up to 30 minutes for an average transaction. 
 
According to a recent Microsoft security intelligence report, XP users are 6 times more likely to be infected than users of modern operating systems like Windows 8.1, despite encountering same amount of threats. XP users are also 21 times more vulnerable. 
 
Microsoft further said that as per a study by research firm IDC in India, companies are prone to spend three times more if they do not put a planned migration strategy in place from the outset. 
 

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/over-34000-psu-bank-branches-set-to-lose-windows-xp-support-study/article5343679.ece

Change in Holiday

 

Change in Holiday on Account of Muharram

All Central Government Administrative Offices located at Delhi/New Delhi shall remain closed on 15th November, 2013 on account of Muharram (in place of 14th November, 2013). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions11-November, 2013 **** KSD/Samir/sk (Release ID :100506)

Staff retirement: Banks will face severe operational risks

Retirement of the existing pool of employees this decade has intensified the war for talent in the banking industry, according to S. R. Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank. 

 

Speaking at the inauguration of the Nitte Institute of Banking and Finance at Nitte University in Mangalore, he said more than half of the staff pool in the banking industry - at about 58 per cent - would retire during 2010-2020.

 

Stating that the retirement is quite intense at the level of the top executives, he said 82 per cent of top executives in the banking industry will retire during the period.

 

It means a leadership gap at the top management level, and banks are likely to face severe operational risks.

 

He said the retirement of the experienced and committed employees would make way for the inexperienced, young and enthusiastic new ones.

 

Added to this, the entry of new banks will increase the competition further. He suggested that institutes such as Nitte Institute of Banking and Finance focus on identifying the needs of bankers and developing contemporary contents for the banking industry.

 

The Nitte Institute of Banking and Finance has trained 444 probationary officers of Corporation Bank. It has also conducted one train-the-trainer programme for the bank, he said.

 

N. Vinay Hegde, Chancellor of Nitte University, and M.S. Moodithaya, Director of the Nitte Institute of Banking and Finance, spoke on the occasion. 

  

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/staff-retirement-banks-will-face-severe-operational-risks/article5335599.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy 

 

 

 

DA FROM NOVEMBER 2013

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF DA FROM NOVEMBER 2013

1. DA FROM NOVEMBER 2013 (i)

2.. DA FROM NOVEMBER 2013  (ii)

Parliament Morchas

 ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION

Circular Letter No.8:VI:2013

October 30, 2013

 

 

To:

ALL UNITS / STATE COMMITTEES

 

 

Comrades,

 

®    Workers Parliament – Follow up Measures- Convention held on 6^th               August   2013

®     C.T.U.s Parliament March on 12^th December, 2013

®     Parliament March on 11^th December 2013 organised by AIBEA on Banking Sector Issues

 

On 4^th September, 2011, the Central Trade Unions viz., BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, AICCTU, UTUC, TUCC, LPF, SEWA  organised a “Workers Parliament” at New Delhi and unanimously resolved to escalate the programmes of actions against the anti-people and anti-labour policies of the Central Govt., highlighting the following points.

 

^{1. No Contractorisation of work of permanent / perennial nature and payment of wages and benefits to the contract workers at the same rate as available to the regular workers of the industry / establishment.}

^{2. Amendment of Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage irrespective of the  schedules  and  fixation  of  statutory  minimum wage at not less than Rs. 10, 000/- linked with cost price index.}

^{3. Remove all ceilings on payment and eligibility of Bonus, Provident Fund; Increase the quantum of gratuity.}

^{4. Assured Pension for all}

^{5. Compulsory registration of trade unions within a period of 45 days and immediate ratification of the ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98}

 

^{Accordingly, AIBOA along with AIBEA, particpated in the “All India Stay out Strike” on 28th February 2012 and demonstrated our concern in common cause with Central Trade Unions.}

 

^{The Government of India continued to be callously indifferent and was absolutely unconcerned with the massive response of the common people of our dear Nation.  While reviewing the performance of action by the “CTUs”, the following additional points to the earlier 5 point agenda making it 10 point charter.  The strike of 28.02.2012 received worldwide coverage too.}

 

^{1.     Concrete measures to contain price rise}

^{2.     Concrete measures for employment generation,}

^{3.     Strict enforcement of labour laws,}

^{4.    Universal social security cover for organized and unorganized            workers and creation of National Social Security Fund}

^{5.     Stoppage of disinvestment in Central and State PSUs / Undertakings}

 

^{Once again, AIBOA gave a call for a strike as per the decision of Office Bearers meeting held at Delhi on 5th February 2013.  During the interim period of one year the living condition of the citizen of the country deteriorated steeply.  As if the Govt., wanted to avert the “2 days strike”,  having sensed the mood and serious preparations by the total CTUs, a meeting of “G.O.M”. with TU leaders was arranged on 18.02.2013 at 8.00 pm.  The last minute attempt of the Government was nothing but an eyewash.  The strike on “20th & 21st February 2013” was a resounding success.  Unions in the Financial sector stole the show, as the lifeline of the economy was choked.}

 

^{On review of the situation by the CTUs in the convention held at Delhi on 6th August 2013 Com.Alok Khare, Vice Chairman and Com.Sanjay Khan, Joint Secretary, represented AIBOA.  The convention decided the two stages of programmes of action ie; on 25th September 2013[Dharna] and the next one on 12th December 2013.[Morcha to Parliament]}

 

^{AIBOA having always identified with the common people causes/issues and participated in the one/two days strike on”28.02.2012 and on 20th and 21st February 2013, naturally shall participate in the Morcha organised by CTUs on 12th December, 2013.}

 

^{The lifeline of the economy is the Banking activities.  Having the capacity to handle a total business of the Rs.131 lacs crores business as on 20.09.2013, the importance given by the owner and the controller to the Financial system is absolutely scanty.  “New Licensing policy”, foreign Banks have been indicated to take over Private Sector Banks “Specialised Banks” and Banks are free to open Bank branches are some the pronounced approach of the RBI.  Non performing Assests – Bad loan portfolio of each Bank is on the rise and hence alarming.}

 

^{AIBOA in its sixth conference held at chennai in December 2011, resolved to fight against the Government anti people, anti labour and also the Reforms policy that affects the Banking Industry too.}

 

^{AIBEA,in its 27th conference held at Kochi, resolved to take up the issues affecting the Banking system to draw the pointed attention of Government of India through a “Parliament Morcha” on 11th December 2013.  Keeping up the tradition of fighting for the common cause in Banking Industry along with AIBEA, all our units are advised to participate in the Parliament Morcha on both days without fail.  More focussed attention shall be by the State Committees of “Delhi”, “Rajasthan”, “ Haryana”, ”Punjab” and  “UP” and hence they have to organise the officers for the Morcha in a big way.  Please take all steps to make the participation a meaningful and effective.}

 

^{Yours comradely,}

 

^{/S.NAGARAJAN/}

^{GENERAL SECRETARY}