Cash crunch: Bankers refute govt, RBI claim; union threatens strike

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6

With customers’ patience running out due to the non-availability of cash in banks, resulting in manhandling of bank employees, the largest bank employees’ union — All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), may take a call next week on proposed agitation to highlight the shortage of new currency notes. However, the second largest bank union in the country, namely the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), said it doesn’t have any plan to participate in any agitation and will rather focus on implementing the demonetisation move.

CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), said, with ATMs and bank branches running out of cash, people are becoming impatient and often hurl abuses in front of the bank employees. “In the past fortnight, there has been a manifold increase in these kinds of incidents. It is very difficult to work in these circumstances,” he said.

He said, “We will wait for one more week and if the situation doesn’t improve by then, we will take a call on the proposed agitation after December 12 to highlight the mounting pressure on banks arising out of shortage of currency.” Except unions of State Bank of India, all other bank unions are members of the AIBEA.

Naresh Gaur, general secretary, All India State Bank of Patiala Federation, said, “We are suffering because of currency shortage and often subjected to the people’s anger. Post the demonetisation, customers are often complaining that we are catering to a particular section of society who is influential, but it’s not true. We are rationing currency so that a wider section of customers can be catered to. The RBI should make public what quantum of currency each bank is getting so that the people can understand that banks are not hoarding the currency or obliging influential people.”

The bankers complained that though the government and the RBI claim that there has been improvement in the supply of currency notes in the banking system, the ground reality is totally different. The problem of cash crunch is prevailing across the country.”

However, Sanjeev Bandlish, general secretary, NCBE, said: “We don’t have any plan to go on agitation against the current crisis the banks are facing. Rather, we will focus on facilitating the customers.” The State Bank of India associations are members of the NCBE.