Public Sector Bank VS Central Government

Public Sector Banks vis-à-vis the Central Government-By  Sri pannvalan

How can public sector banks be called as government institutions?

1.    All public sector banks acquired the public sector characteristic by virtue of a special act passed by the Indian Parliament.

2.    Central Government directly and indirectly through other PSUs like LIC of India etc. holds majority of the shareholdings in public sector banks.

3.    Several public sector banks are bankers to the government - Central or State - either as a lender or a custodian of government funds. Public sector banks have subscribed to several Government Promissory Notes, Treasury Bills and Bonds and Debentures issued by State/Central PSUs.

4.    Public Sector Banks have established and manage Currency Chests throughout the country on behalf of RBI, thus playing a vital role in currency issue and management (printing is the sole prerogative of RBI).

5.    Public Sector Banks run clearing houses throughout the country, thereby helping the government manage the nation's economy, trade and commerce.

6.    Even today, Public Sector Banks have the majority share of the public savings (more than 77%), enjoying the confidence and trust of most of the common citizens.

7.    But for the low wages, public sector banks are one of the dream destinations for thousands of aspiring youth in the country.

8.    Public Sector Banks as a group are the second largest employer, next only to Indian Railways, providing employment to lakhs of unemployed youth.

9.    Public Sector Banks as commercial entities and the staff working in them are one of the major contributors to government's kitty, as they are one of the few honest tax paying groups.

10.  Under the guidance and supervision of RBI, public sector banks play a vital role in managing the precious foreign exchange assets of the country.

Additional points to corroborate our stand are:

1. Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 are two important Acts of Union of India, which broadly govern the functioning of general banking in India.
2. Banking policies and operational guidelines are broadly designed by Department of Financial Services, Finance Ministry, Government of India and the banking industry is monitored and controlled by the government, in association with RBI.
3. Bank Holidays are decided by the respective State Governments and published in official gazettes.
4. Public Sector Banks issue Bank Guarantees on behalf of ‘President of India’.

5. In 1979, Central Government had accepted Pillai committee recommendation on the point that the Bank officers’ salary will be equal to that of Class 1 officers.  By doing this, the central government has indirectly admitted that public sector bank employees are to be treated on equal footing with the government employees.
6. Central government uses PSBs for various purposes like Tax collection, implementation of socio-economic policies of the nation viz. targeted lending (priority sector lending), distribution of subsidies and grants, financial inclusion etc.
7. Bank employees are invited to apply for vacancies on deputation basis in institutions like DRT, CBI, FIU-IND, IBA etc.
8. Bank staff are drafted for election duties by Election Commission of India.
9. Bank Managers are empowered to attest certain documents for limited purposes, by the government.
10. Successive Finance Ministers have acknowledged the fact that only because of the public sector banks in India, we as a nation could successfully insulate ourselves against the tribulations that jolted the South East Asian Countries in the late 1990s, the global recession that turned the economy of several American States topsy-turvy in 2008-10 and the very recent crisis that enveloped the European nations like Spain, Greece, Italy etc.
11. Last but not the least, public sector banks generate very substantial revenue for the Union Government, by way of issuance of dividend on their shares.

So, what are we waiting for?  Why shall we depend on the bipartite negotiation and settlement for our wage increase?  We can file a PIL case in any High Court for willful delay of the wage revision by both IBA and UFBU and demand immediate constitution of a separate Pay Commission for Public Sector Banks or demand ourselves to be brought under the Central Pay Commission on a par with central government employees.

Date:22-01-2014                                                                                                           pannvalan