Bank employees and Union leaders
Division created by 9th bipartite settlement among bank employees are mostly due to paucity of proper knowledge. Pension optees or PF optees should understand it well that payment of pension is not a third terminal benefit as prevalent in RBI or SBI or other Public Sector Undertaking. Every bank or every public organization or private sector entity which is under obligation to deduct Provident Fund from the salary of their employee is also obliged to contribute equal amount from their expenditure or revenue account. This is called Bank’s contribution to PF in banking industry. Bank is making pension payment out of this fund and not from their pocket or their expenditure account. I do not agree if banks say that there was actual need of sharing the burden during 7th or 8th or 9th Bipartite Settlement. Since union leaders did not make proper calculation and analysis of the facts about the use of funds, they might have agreed to share the burden of pension out of proposed hike in salary during 7th, 8th or 9th Bipartite Settlement. Even if it is assumed that there was shortage of fund or even if banks apprehended that crisis of fund will emerge in future in making payment of pension, it is legal obligation of employer to arrange sufficient fund from their resources, from their expenditure account. Central government provide enough amount in Budget for payment of pension to employees and there was never any hue and cry for the same.Banks were nationalized to serve the society , to fulfill the social obligation ant not to merely earn profit in thousands of crores of rupees every year by exploitation of staff, by curtaining manpower, by stopping increment of employees or by imposing hidden charges on customers or by stopping social welfare lending and indulging in bulk financing to corporate sector. It is known to all that as soon as one employee opts for pension, Bank’s entire contribution made in PF account during entire tenure of one’s service is taken away by bank. Not only this bank is obliged to contribute towards pension fund every month on behalf of every pension optees the amount equal to what an employee contribute towards his PF account. .This accumulated fund from any mathematical angle will be more than enough to make payment of pension to all retirees as per prevalent rate of pension provided banks are honest enough to deposit their equal share regularly for all employees and use the accumulated fund for gain in profitable investment ventures and not loss the money by investing in share market or by keeping the fund idle. It is bitter truth that from any angle of consideration other than social security pension option for an employee was never and never an economically profitable venture and this is why there used to be prolonged debate on this issue in nineties and there was vertical split among employees on this issue. Employees had to resort to strike many times to protest imposition of pension and stopping of bank’s contribution towards PF fund as also return of accumulated PF to bank. Unfortunately Government of India adopted the policy of reformation, liberalization and globalization in the year 1991 and the basic purpose of nationalization of banks changed. Banks became a commercial entity and the element of profit became more important than that of social security. Banks started lending to rich person at low rate of interest and became hesitant to lend poor people even at their PLR or BPLR. They started reducing interest rates on deposits and hence PF optees started feeling or apprehending the pain when they retired. Not only this ,there are crores of senior citizens in our country who are sufferer of this policy of liberalization and due to low interest rate regime because their livelihood were dependent on interest income during their old age. Banks are no more inclined to lend to needy poor people but concentrating entire energy on corporate sector and bulk financing. Banks are no more interested to create employment opportunities. This is why actual number of employees during last twenty years has not gone up inspite of hundred times growth in business and equal growth in branch expansion and addition of non banking services in banks .Exploitation of labour has become a common feature in banking industry as it was prevalent before nationalization of banks. This is why United Forum of Bank Unions treats the 9th Bipartite Settlement as historic that they have won the second offer of pension from bank which has discarded its entire social obligation and adopted policy of looting the money as other private entrepreneurs are doing. It does not astonish to me that prices of all commodities are rising every day and government is finding it difficult to control it. The one and only one reason behind it is that they have given unlimited freedom to private sector and do not want to regulate price, profit makers, hoarders, and adulterators and even erring banks. Regulators of banks are least bothered of bank employees or social security, they also now a days fix profit target and attach much importance on profit and on Return on Assets. Government of India or for that matter, Finance Minister or RBI are least bothered of Quality of assets in banks or health of bank or health of bank employees. Administrators need flattery and gift in return of what they offer to banks and bank officials (including CEOs). We are living in Gift Raj. Banks are undoubtedly gainer only when all are pension optees.After completing 60 years of age in banks and after facing so much work load, so much stress and so much pains caused by corrupt system and corrupt team of officers, one officer will be hardly fit to survive for even five years after retirement. Bitter truth is that death before retirement is increasing year after year. Officers are finding it difficult to keep body fit even after 40 years of age. Officers in general at the age of 40 and above wait for VRS to get rid of tension they face in bank’s job. Even newly recruited employees in banks leave the job in a year of two and go for other job. There is love and dignity left in bank’s job as it earned during seventies and eighties. Union leaders are not that much devoted and not ready to sacrifice any thing for the sake of employees as they used to be before reformation era. Now leaders are always talking of LEVY or threatening members of expulsion from Association or Union if they do not pay levy out of arrear. God knows how union leaders will consume hundreds of crores of rupees collected through this LEVY in addition to normal union fees Time has changed completely. This is why learned advocate Sri Pradeep Yadav of Supreme Court has suggested employees to accept the agreement in present form and be ready for accepting pension and sacrificing what banks are bent upon making recovery from their arrears in lieu of offer of pension to PF optees. There is none to support the cause of PF optees or pension optees in real sense, not even union leaders, not to speak of government of India who won the public vote by making promise of social security. Only recourse to frustrated section of employees is court of law. Unfortunately this judicial course is also so prolonged, cumbersome and costly that one dies before getting justice, not to imagine of justice during service period. Union Fund is therefore growing, pension fund is growing, tax collection is increasing year after but the capacity of bank employees to buy goods is deceasing day by day, year after year. Union is becoming more and more powerful, management is gaining power but the position of employees of bank is becoming pitiable year after after. There is a proverb in Hindi “ Sanp (snake) ke muhan (mouth) me chhuchunder, na ugalte banta hai aur na nigalte banta hai
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