Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
Employees of Regional Rural Banks (RRB) in Kerala held a one-day strike on February 23 on demands including filling up of vacancies, regularisation of temporary employees, abolition of appointment of business correspondents, withdrawal of appointment of recovery agencies and the formation of a National Rural Bank of India (NRBI),
The strike was preceded by a 60-hour-long day and night dharna from 21 February by the Kerala Grama Bank Employees Union (KGBEU) and Kerala Grama Bank Officers Union (KGBOU).
The major demand of the RRB employees is to delink their banks from the sponsor banks. They said sponsor banks are converting RRBs into subordinate banks. The sponsor banks are deputing of staff to the RRBs, resulting in the inferior treatment of the staff of the RRBs.
Instead of developing of RRB-specific business model, the boards of RRBs are adopting policies and business models of their respective sponsor banks. Some RRBs are forced to sell financial products of the sponsor banks which are irrelevant to RRB customers. In that way, the sponsor banks are playing against the RRB customers as well, the union added.
