Bank trade unions are not happy with the Government's decision to induct two CEOs from private sector into two top public sector banks. The Government had announced on Friday that P.S. Jayakumar and Rakesh Sharma would be appointed MD & CEO of Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank respectively. This was being done as part of a package of measures called Indradhanush to revive the banking system.
C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees’ Association, has called the step 'unfair, unwarranted and unjustified.' He said these banks were huge financial institutions with social and public welfare orientation. That culture doesn't fit with what these private executives bring to the table, he said.
He said that there was no need for such appointments when there were enough committed, dedicated executives within public sector banks. This sends a wrong signal that the Government is committed to privatisation of banks, he said.
The move to give a higher performance bonus to MDs and CEOs did not find favour with him. He asked, "Why should only the Chairman or CEO get such performance bonus? After all it is team work. Why not extend that to everyone?"
Venkatachalam was also critical of the Government's move to infuse capital in select banks, terming it 'discriminatory'. This is indirectly building up pressure on such banks to go to private capital, he said.
He questioned why the Government was blaming banks for bad loans, when the economy was not doing well. He wondered why the package of measures announced on Friday did not include a single mention of how the banks were to recover the money from defaulters.