A day after the Cabinet gave its nod for the merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with State Bank of India, President of All India State Bank Officers’ Federation (AISBOF) D Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev said, “The Federation supports the acquisition by the parent.”

“We never wanted cross-merger for in it (cross-merger) we believed that we would be creating competition amongst us. Only the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) was demanding the cross-merger of associate banks into one entity. We had always maintained that there was no need for merging the associate banks with SBI. Now it has been forced on us,” he told this correspondent. The Federation has formed three committees to discuss the various post-merger issues such as human resource (planning), possible closure of branches and ways to integrate the associations.

Committees’ meeting

“The committees met on Tuesday at Mumbai; held a discussion with the SBI Chairperson as well. We expect some quick follow up,” Rajendra Dev said adding, “only by next year, will things really happen.”

Sharing some of the suggestions, he said, “Instead of closing branches located in close proximity, the bank can consider converting some into specialised branches. This would help redeploy the staff as well.”

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