Govt asks public sector banks to finalise next wage revision before 1 November

In a communication to CEOs and MDs of the state-owned banks, the finance ministry advised them to initiate the steps for smooth conclusion of next wage revision

New Delhi, April 9 (PTI): The finance ministry has asked the heads of public sector banks (PSBs) to finalise the modalities for timely implementation of the next pay revision from November.

There are 21 public sector banks, post merger of six lenders with State Bank of India (SBI), in the country. They together employ about 8 lakh people.

In a communication to CEOs and MDs of the state-owned banks, the ministry advised them to initiate the steps for smooth conclusion of next wage revision of the employee within the time-frame. “However, it is seen that several banks are yet to proceed in the matter,” it said, requesting the PSBs to “look into the matter and conclude the next wage revision prior to the effective date of 1 November 2017”.

The wage revision of public sector bank employees takes place every five year. The last revision was effected in November 2012. In the last wage negotiation between PSU banks employee unions and bank management, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) had settled at 15% hike. Recently, Banks Board Bureau chief Vinod Rai had made a case that the compensation package across the board of public sector banks needs to be improved.

“Maybe, we are not able to do much with the fixed part of compensation package but (with) variable part we are hopeful that in the next financial year (2017-18), we will be able to introduce a far more attractive package which do have bonuses, ESOPs and other performance linked incentives as part of the package,” he had said. Rai has also suggested that managing directors of the public sector banks should be appointed for minimum 6 years.

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Why should there be different set of rules for public sector banks?

Mumbai, March 20:  Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman, State Bank of India (SBI), will create history on April 1 when all five associate banks will merge with itself — in the largest such exercise in the banking sector — to blossom out as a single entity. She created history in 2013 when she rose from the ranks and took over as the first woman chairman of the 211-year old bank.

In an exclusive interview, she tells Manju AB that her life’s journeys are never with a complete roadmap but with a conviction that challenges can be tackled and goal post is never too far.

Is it necessary for SBI to demand a high monthly minimum average balance (MAB) of Rs 5,000 in savings accounts?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: There is an interest of 4% paid on savings bank account. Suppose someone is earning a salary of Rs 15,000, then for three days his account can fall below Rs 5,000. If you have Rs 60,000 in your account, you can fall below Rs 5,000 for many days, so it is the average of all the days in a month. In the urban areas, it is Rs 3,000, and in semi-urban areas, it is Rs 2,000. In rural areas, it is Rs 1,000. The Jan Dhan is zero balance.

According to RBI data, the Jan Dhan accounts have deposits of Rs 74,600 crore giving banks a free float?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Yes, these accounts have money, but there are no restrictions on withdrawing the money. We pay 4% interest on these deposits. Every account is accompanied by a RuPay card which cost the bank about Rs 68 and the ATM infrastructure has to be built where every transaction costs Rs 18 to be paid to the card companies. We allow five free ATM transactions to our customers if they are using other bank ATMs.

Was the cost of running the demonetisation too expensive? Some private banks had shut their ATMs after the government waived off all transaction charges?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: The cost of demonetisation is pretty large. During the time of the demonetisation, it was the PSU banks which served the people. In many places, only the SBI ATMs were open. We refilled the ATMs regularly. Though the government waived off transaction charges on ATMs, we had to pay the card companies. The sheer logistics of transporting so much cash was quite large. Why should there be extraordinary expectations from the public sector when we are in the forefront of nation building?

HDFC Bank recently claimed that they offer five-star services...

Arundhati Bhattacharya: I don't accept that the private sector services are five-star and our services are not. I do not accept that at all. No one complains when the private banks charge high rates. Penalty for not maintaining minimum balance in a private sector bank is anywhere between Rs 450 to Rs 790 per month while for us it is Rs 20 to Rs 100. Why should there be a different set of rules for the public sector banks? Our internet banking site is by far superior to the others. It is the fifth most visited financial site globally. You don't achieve this by running shoddy services.

What will be the role of SBI’s subsidiary, Infra Management Solutions (SBIIMS)? What is SBI’s real estate valued at? Are you open to selling a part of this?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: The real estate is valued at Rs 35,000 crore excluding the assets of the associate banks and about Rs 15,000 crore is added to our tier 1 capital. We are also open to selling our real estate in areas where it is in excess and unutilised. This company will be manned by engineers and construction specialists who will negotiate on our behalf and also look after the upkeep of these premises.

Are you worried for your loans to the telecom sector? Reliance Jio, for instance, is running the longest promotional scheme to capture customers. Have you spoken to the government?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Not just for us, it should be a matter of concern for the government as well as they are also loosing revenue because of these schemes. We have not exactly spoken to the government in so many words. But we have flagged it off at various quarters that banks have a substantial exposure to the sector. When you have such schemes, there is an impact on competition. Quarterly results of major telcos are pretty impaired. So, it depends on how long these schemes will run. If it is for a short period of time, these people can surely weather the storm.

Any anxieties about the mega merger?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: We are all set for the merger. We already had a template as two banks were merged. So, we worked on the template left behind by our predecessors. Our books of accounts are merged. Relocation of banks and ATMs will happen as we expand our foot print into new areas. We may take some branches a few kilometers away from where they are now. Branches which are set up in clusters in the older part of the cities may be repositioned in the newer parts of the cities. I feel the younger people in the associate banks will be happier to be part of a bigger bank like SBI. The older lot may find it difficult to relocate, and so, we have a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). But, we are not forcing anyone.

The total NPA pile is likely to cross Rs 9 lakh crore at the end of March 31, and SBI has more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore...

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Post the merger, SBI may end up with Rs 1.6 lakh crore gross NPAs, according to the consolidated figures, we have up to December 31, 2016. We will meet the RBI deadline of March 31, 2017, to clean up our balance sheet. Resolutions will also happen.

But isn’t the issue about over-leverage? Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel would have about Rs 1 lakh crore of loans taken together, almost equivalent to the total stressed debt in the sector?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Yes, which is why we are saying that there should be a valuation of these assets. We should take some pain. We should take some write-downs and also some conversion of debt to equity. Reduce the debt burden. There is no point running these accounts to the ground.

In the restructuring schemes like Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) and Special Drawing Right (SDR), the share prices soar initially, when the schemes are getting approved by banks and then plummet when banks take over part of the shares?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: If you look at the SDR scheme closely, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already given an exception. The conversion of debt to equity is allowed at par value and it will not trigger an open offer if we go beyond a certain limit. We have requested these provisions to be provided for in corporate debt restructuring (CDR) and S4A. The 10% conversion of debt into equity in a CDR is too less.

You want the CDR terms to be diluted?

Arundhati Bhattacharya: Yes. Not necessarily be diluted but changed if you allow the Sebi formula for conversion to be allowed into SDR to CDR. It is not dilution. If bankers have the right kind of mechanisms, we will be able to turn around these units. What is the basis of seven-year turnaround in CDR? It should be more like the time given under 5/25 scheme

State Bank of India website goes generic New web address is www.bank.sbi

Chennai, February 20 (IANS): The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday announced rebranding of its website as bank.sbi. According SBI, the new domain name bank.sbi is the highest domain protocol known as generic top level domain (gTLD), an official statement.

"The SBI group has several businesses. For those wanting to do banking or want to know about the bank it is easier to type out www.bank.sbi." M.K. Rekhi, General Manager -Social Media.

The SBI group having presence in insurance, mutual fund and card may also go for such Generic top-level domain (gTLD). With this, SBI has become the first banking organisation in India to use a gTLD for its online presence and providing an exclusive experience of assurance and security to its customers.

"SBI being the largest bank has always been the pioneer in adapting new technology. SBI has always believed in providing high-tech yet secure internet experience to its customers. Bank's own gTLD is another step in this direction," SBI's Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement.

Bank's own gTLD aims at simplifying the digital experience of customers and brings in enhanced security against phishing and lookalike websites. Due to its non-replicability, a gTLD site like ".sbi" conveys an assurance to the customer that the site is authorised, genuine and is not an inappropriate or phishing site.

The existing site of sbi.co.in will continue till customers get used to the new avtar of SBI's secure website.

SBI Group finalises plans for voluntary retirement scheme

Mumbai, February 19:  With State Bank of India (SBI) in the last lap of merging five associate banks with itself, SBI Group has finalised plans to launch a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) which could lead to a lower headcount in the number of employees from the total employee base of 73,000 in the associate banks.

The Union Cabinet had last week cleared the merger of five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT) — with SBI. While SBI is yet to provide details of the branch rationalisation plan, an official of SBT has claimed that the merger plan could lead to closure of SBT’s 30 per cent of branches. While the five associate banks have 6,717 branches, SBT has 1,117 branches. “We have information that 204 branches have been identified in Kerala and 59 in Tamil Nadu,” an official said.

In a statement last week, SBI said, “The merger will result in creation of a stronger entity. This will minimise vulnerability to any geographic concentration risks faced by associate banks. This merger is an important step towards strengthening the banking sector.” A formal notification in this regard is awaited from the government wherein the effective date of merger will be indicated, SBI said.

The five associate banks have a total deposit base of over Rs 5 lakh crore and 8,964 ATMs across India.

The boards of associate banks have already approved the VRS plan, but they are yet to notify the number of employees eligible for the VRS, said an SBI official. “In view of the impending acquisition, your bank may consider implementing a VRS for employees as an employment-friendly initiative. The scheme would provide a good opportunity to employees who may genuinely want to retire voluntarily on account of the uncertainties related to possible relocation of job profile post acquisition,” SBI said in a letter to the MD of State Bank of Travancore.

The VRS scheme is open to those staffers who have put in 20 years or have completed 55 years as on September 30, 2016. It has offered ex-gratia amounting to 50 per cent of salary for residual period of service subject to a maximum of 30 months salary.

However, bank unions have said “closure of associate banks by mergers is unwarranted as these banks are in existence for very long in various states” and they have “sound financial fundamentals, commendable financial ratios, well-established branches and serving the people at large in rural, semi-urban and urban centres”. “Associate banks are premier banks in the respective states with sizeable market share and credit deployment to productive sectors. They are immensely financing agriculture, micro-small-medium-large industry, trade, service sectors at the regions and states,” said K S Krishna, general secretary, State Sector Bank Employees’ Association.

He said associate banks have been forced to give excessive provisions for the reason that those loan accounts with the associate banks — even though are standard assets — may be considered as NPA if the same group’s account with SBI is NPA. “When the associate banks made a net profit of Rs 1,700 crore in the half year of FY16, now the banks have been forced to show a loss of Rs 5,100 crore in FY17 half year. The operating profit has risen from Rs 5,000 crore in FY16 to Rs 5,600 crore in FY 17. With the announcement of merger, work in the associate banks has come to a standstill,” Krishna said.

In this time of need, SBI is your friend, indeed

Shut down SBI branches till the supply of cash gets normalised: Union

Chennai, January 14 (IANS): State Bank of India (SBI) can shut down its branches till the supply of cash gets normalised and staff are not put to risk to face the ire of banking public, a top union leader said.

“We have suggested to the SBI management to down the branch shutters till the supply of cash gets normalised. It is better to close down the branches for some time than the staff face the ire of the public for no fault of theirs,” D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, Senior Vice President of the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), told IANS.

Dev wondered how his comrades in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are saying that cash supplies there are better but such views are not heard from his comrades in other states.

“It is strange that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not divulging as to the amount of cash supplied state­wise and bank­wise. What is the big secrecy to be safeguarded after the cash has been distributed to states and banks?”

According to Dev, in many SBI branches cash is being rationed amongst the account holders. The RBI has been issuing empty statements about currency supplies being comfortable and currency being sent to rural areas whereas in reality it is not so, Dev charged.

He said people in Tamil Nadu will not be able to celebrate Pongal festival properly due to cash crunch.

- IANS

Cash Costly, allow Banks to Charge for Cash Transactions

Mumbai, December 26: The country’s largest bank, State Bank of India, wants the government to allow banks to charge customers for cash transactions, said a senior executive. “We must be allowed to charge bank account holders to charge for cash transactions. Handling cash is a huge cost to banks,” said Manju Agarwal, deputy managing director at SBI. “Given that this is an opportune time, there needs to be incentives to use cards or internet to make electronic payments and discourage cash.”

The Reserve Bank of India and commercial banks face a total of Rs.21,000 crore ($3.5 billion) in currency operations costs annually. Speaking about the digital push after demonetisation, Agarwal said they have seen multifold rise in debit card and mobile banking usage to make payments. Banks, including SBI, have been promoting cashless transactions through cards and their mobile applications. SBI is aggressively promoting its SBI Buddy. Moreover, in collaboration with telecom firm BSNL, it has launched its new app – ‘mobicash’ which features three-way access to transfer fund from the mobile phone.

Agarwal said there were easy and secure ways to make cashless transactions even on basic phones which facilitate transactions through SMS or USSD code. Last week, SBI chairman also spoke about finding ways to disincentivise cash transactions, such as imposing a charge or levy above a specified limit or threshold, after normalcy is restored in banking operations.

With about 90% of our transactions done in cash, India has a cash-to-GDP ratio of about 12.2%, believed to be relatively high compared to many of its peer countries like Brazil, Russia and Mexico. Though the withdrawal of high-value currency notes has taken the number to 7.3% of the GDP, which is lower than US at 7.8% (as per RBI data), it is estimated to settle at 10% after the entire demonetised value is back in the system.

Bhattacharya said if India wanted to de-emphasise cash, not only should there be an incentive for people to move towards a cashless economy, but also a disincentive for transacting excessively in cash, leaving out small-ticket transactions. “Cash imposes a huge burden. We don’t understand it as it is not immediately visible. It is a huge burden on society,” she added.

Associate Banks of State Bank of India to offer VRS before merger with SBI

Kolkata, December 9:  The Associate Banks of State Bank of India (SBI) have started preparations to unveil voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) for their employees before the proposed merger with the parent bank. 

State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) board has approved the VRS while other associate banks will place the scheme before their boards in the next few days, according to two senior SBI group officials.

The VRS in associate banks would help SBI curb in staff cost escalation after the merger. SBI’s staff expense was Rs 6,853 crore in the September quarter, rising 11.6% year-on-year. SBI’s pension obligation is estimated to be around Rs 3,500 crore. This would rise once associate bank employees come under SBI fold.

SBI has nearly 2.02 lakh employees while its associate banks have a cumulative headcount of 70,000. SBH, the largest among all the five associate banks, has around 18,000 employees. State Bank of Patiala has around 15,000.

The details of VRS is not known as yet. Sources in the SBI said all associate bank employees opting for it would get similar benefits. A good chunk of them are likely to go for VRS as there has been apprehensions across levels about their pecking order under the State Bank of India.

The government approved the merger in August while the exercise is likely to be over by March 2017. The integration of IT platform-- a key aspect to SBI’s merger with associate banks State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore– is in the final stages.

SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya earlier said there would be no pay cut and job loss for associate bank employees after the merger. At the time of State Bank of Saurashtra and State Bank of Indore's merger with SBI, there were allegations that fairness was compromised demotivating associate bank employees.

As on September 30, associate banks cumulatively have Rs 5,21,344 crore of deposits and Rs 3,92,436 crore in advances. This will get added to SBI’s Rs 18,58,999 crore of deposits and Rs 14,81,832 crore of advances, making the group's total business nearly five times of ICICI Bank's business of Rs 9,03,371 crore.

State Bank to offer banking services on Facebook, Twitter ( July 02, 2016)

Leveraging on the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, State Bank of India (SBI) has launched "SBI Mingle", allowing its customers access various banking services via these social platforms. "Using SBI Mingle, the bank's customers can do a host of banking services on their Facebook orTwttter accounts at their own convenience,” the bank said. Simultaneously, SBI has also tied-up with Fllpkart for preapproved EMI facility on purchases and launched "SBI Digital Villages” lo make a select rural segment part of the cashless ecosystem.

SBI launches mobile cash dispensers (Dec 7, 2015)

State Bank of India has announced special measures to ensure Chennai flood victims do not run out of money. Cash points are being operated at various localities. Some of these mobile money dispensers are on boats, auto-rickshaws and vans or are handheld devices operated by staffers.
SBI said its staff had volunteered to work late hours. Several branches in the affected areas were open on Sunday. SBI has also undertaken various relief measures such as distribution of food, water, blankets, Medicines and utensils in the affected districts by procuring from nearby unaffected districts.

SBI launches mobile cash dispensers (Dec 7, 2015)

State Bank of India has announced special measures to ensure Chennai flood victims do not run out of money. Cash points are being operated at various localities. Some of these mobile money dispensers are on boats, auto-rickshaws and vans or are handheld devices operated by staffers.
SBI said its staff had volunteered to work late hours. Several branches in the affected areas were open on Sunday. SBI has also undertaken various relief measures such as distribution of food, water, blankets, Medicines and utensils in the affected districts by procuring from nearby unaffected districts.

SBI Bank Holiday Calendar Android App

SBI Bank Holiday Calendar 2014 - 2015 - Now view Bank holidays based on State/UT/Circle options through this simple and intuitive app.

Click here to Download 

SBI features in 100 Most Trusted Brands 2015 (Nov 26, 2015)

India’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) has propelled its position from 39th to 35th in the Brand Equity’s Most Trusted Brands survey 2015. SBI is the only bank to be featured in the top 100 brands conducted by Nielsen survey. It is also adjudged India's most valued banking brand. The most trusted brand identifies brands that have the most special element:
The consumer’s trust.Conducted by Nielsen, Most Trusted Brand remains amongst the largest researches of its kind in India, with a design sample of 7,200 –distributed across socio economic classifications, age, income and geography. This research was carried out in 3 stages to make it more comprehensive. The study was carried out in 12 cities across India. The methodology was modified to improve quality of responses.

SBI to launch mobile wallet for feature phones soon (Nov 17, 2015)

WITH an aim to tap customers, who are not smart phone users, State Bank of India (SBI) would in three weeks launch ‘Batua’, the mobile wallet for feature phones. The functionality of it will be like already launched ‘Buddy’. This would allow transactions like fund transfers, bill payments, recharges, statements and others. This would also be made available in 13 regional languages, said Rajnish Kumar, managing director , SBI. The bank also has plans to launch 600 more branches this financial year in addition to the 100 already launched so far. In all, it would look to recruit about 7,000 personnel across cadres.
“There will be always need for new branches. There is space for all channels to grow — physical, electronic, mobile and other touch points,” Kumar said. The bank would focus on the SME segment to increase its lending. Sectors, including iron and steel, energy, roads and allied sectors, have been a drag on the performance. “The credit offtake from corporates has been subdued. We hope that to pick up in the second half of the financial year,” he said, adding that retail loan sector was growing around 16-18 per cent. Lending to corporates was showing a negative growth, he said. RBI had already factored the possible impact on lending rates if US Fed raised the rates in December.

State Bank to hire 7,000 (Nov 17, 2015)

State Bank of India (SBI) will hire 7,000 people this financial year to support its branch expansion plans and for regular needs. “We will hire about 2,000 probationary officers and the rest clerks. We are going to add 700 more branches this financial year to take the total to beyond 17,000,” said Rajnish Kumar, MD. The bank, which launched an e-wallet app for smart phone users, will launch Batua (purse), a multi-lingual app for feature (basic) phones in three weeks. He said it would be available in 13 Indian languages.

Reliance joins hands with SBI for Payments Bank Licence

Mumbai, February 2: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Monday said it has applied for a Payments Bank licence, where the company will be the promoter and State Bank of India will be its joint venture partner with an equity investment of up to 30%.

Reliance in its statement said that the partnership is in accordance with the guidelines for Payments Bank issued by RBI and subject to grant of licence by the central bank.

“The partnership brings together the combined strengths of two of India’s Fortune-500 corporations committed to making a transformative impact on India’s financial inclusion landscape,” the Reliance statement said.

The Payments Bank will leverage SBI’s nationwide distribution network and risk management capabilities along with the substantial investments made by Reliance Industries in its retail and telecom businesses.

The joint venture will use state-of-the-art technology, build scalable infrastructure and create extensive branch and business correspondent network in order to provide last-mile access and intuitive user experience to all sections of society.

Both the partners see formation of the Payments Bank as an opportunity to lead and co-create an eco-system for accessible and affordable banking solutions. The statement also said that the proposed payments bank will digitise payments and act as a catalyst towards a cashless society.

SBI initiates three-pronged strategy to boost its home loan business

Mumbai, December 29: The State Bank of India has initiated a three-pronged strategy to push its home loan business. The country's largest lender will sell its home loan products through the entire group network instead of limiting it to the bank, develop a mechanism to identify right customers for home loans, and implement a uniform delivery system across its branches, a top official said.

"We are looking to grow home loans at 15%-17% in FY16 and how to leverage our group resources," said B Sriram, managing director and group executive (national banking) at SBI.

The state-run bank, which owns more than one fourth of the housing loan market in the country, grew its home loan business 14% year-on-year for the quarter ended September at around Rs 1.49 lakh crore.

With the Reserve Bank of India issuing guidelines for licensing small banks and entry of players such as Bandhan and IDFC, the home loan market is expected to get more competitive in the coming years.

Sriram said SBI plans to connect about 40,000-50,000 counsellors working for its non-bank group subsidiaries such as SBI Mutual Fund and SBI Life Insurance to source home loans, to boost its customer reach. For example, an outsourced counsellor working for SBI Mutual Fund would also approach his clientele for SBI home loans, for which she would earn commissions.

"Alternative channels could be the main channel next 10 years in the banking industry as they attract young customers," Sriram told ET in an interaction. SBI is also working on a mechanism to identify the right customer to offer home loans or any other cross-selling product like mutual fund or insurance. For example, if a customer enters a SBI branch and does a transaction, immediately a screen will prop up on the branch official's computer showing the customer's profile and product suitability.

SBI's Work-From-Home Option for Women, How Feasible is the Move?

SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya’s novel idea of providing women employees of SBI with a work-from-home option is sure to stir up a hornet’s nest in the coming days.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, the first woman to head the bank ever, has said that she would be looking at ways to increase retention of women staff. While 38-40% of recruits were women, their high dropout rate and absenteeism resulted in women accounting for just of 20% of the workforce.

At present, the strength of women employees in the total workforce of the bank is 45,132, which constitutes slightly more than 20% of the total staff strength of 2,22,033. Bhattacharya said that the dropouts were for various reasons, including looking after children, to relocate or to look after the elderly.

After she took charge, the bank announced that it would allow women to take a two-year sabbatical from work in case they want it for children's education or taking care of parents.

Maybe Ms. Bhattacharya’s initiative doesn’t stem from a modern-day compulsion alone. In fact, in the late 18th and early 19th century, around the same time SBI was founded, working women, especially mothers, in Europe increasingly found it difficult to combine paid labour with familial responsibilities due to the demanding nature of the new industrial job in textile and clothing factories.

As their contribution to the aforementioned industries couldn’t be underplayed, the concept of ‘separation of workplace from home’ was done away with in order to accommodate their twin roles. Thus, working mothers found solace by engaging with home-based work through the setting up of small-scale workshops.

Though the Industrial Revolution redefined the spheres of ‘domesticity’ and ‘home’ as exclusively feminine, it also brought about a transformation of workplace and newer representations of gender.

Thus male workers/employees came to be solely engaged in economic activity while staying aloof from child-raising and household chores. Women, on the other hand, had to constantly concern themselves with maternity and motherhood.

A lot of what sexual division of labour at the professional level shows us from the past continues to impact working women of the present. Of course, the ‘natural’ order of things cannot be compromised for any revolutionary change in gender functions thereby work-from-home option ‘has’ to be a convenience only for working mothers.

Over the years, feminist groups have been calling for equal pay and status for women in the professional sphere. At the same time, there has been an outcry over the reservation tactic employed to ‘privilege’ women, as achieving equality through a social transformation is a long-drawn process.

The SBI initiative makes sense only in case of maternity leave and not for any other reason, like child’s education and taking care of parents as cited by the company, which could be carried out by a working father as well. Why does such a facility favour only women when it should ideally be granted on the nature of given work irrespective of gender considerations?

So, a more comprehensive solution would be to extend this benefit even to male employees who, albeit in minority cases, would want to stay on at home for the same purpose.

The doubts over technological feasibility can wait. What demands far greater attention is the gender disparity it creates in the quest for a diluting a patriarchal setup, both in the domestic and professional spheres.

Apart from this flaw on the gender front, the move has been tried and tested by American multinational company, Yahoo whose CEO Marissa Mayer decided on the ban on work-from-home after spending months frustrated at how empty Yahoo parking lots were and after consulting Yahoo's VPN logs to see if remote employees were checking in enough.

Her argument was quite logical, "People are more productive when they're alone, but they're more collaborative and innovative when they're together. Some of the best ideas come from pulling two different ideas together."

Lots of people around the country and world work from home these days, and many of them - particularly mothers - seemed to view Mayer's ban as a threat on their way of working.

But productivity would take a huge hit due to the lack of a monitoring system and a phenomenal risk of many employees availing the benefit as opposed to an office desk job. Instead, a more plausible solution would be to limit the period of work-from home duties to a maximum of 2-3 years in the case of employees who’ve applied for leave owing to secondary domestic responsibilities.

Another way to prevent many employees from availing this benefit would be to introduce a pay-cut of 20-30%. This is to be done keeping in mind the ‘additional advantages’ enjoyed by work-from employees as they wouldn’t incur either travel (thereby saving time) or overhead expenses (like fuel and maintenance). On the flip side, it could create more job opportunities in any sector providing the work-from home option.

There is also an environmental good, though small: resultant reduction in the use of private/company vehicles brings down pollution levels.

There has to be a complete overhaul of the labour laws allowing paid and casual leave in the event of an employee already benefiting from the work-from home scheme. In extremely veritable cases, the remote employees could be allowed flexible working hours depending on the time they would have to invest for other purposes.

However, as of now, the idea appears too far-fetched and unattainable. Perhaps, the single-most impediment would be on the technical feasibility considering the geographical spread of the SBI’s branches.

Instead, why not devise a system by which employees aren’t subjected to regular transfers far from their hometown? Or maybe even setup crèche facilities for a temporary period?

It is, therefore not at all surprising that modern private banking institutions like HDFC and ICICI haven’t mulled over such innovations precisely due to the fallout in productive capacity of the company.

Thus, the scheme is beset with a two-fold complication: Firstly, the need to extend the option to all employees if introduced as a company policy and secondly, to develop suitable technology to oversee the work done by them.

Ultimately, the wisdom of the primary stakeholders, i.e. the employees and industry experts have to be consulted before any fast-track measure is in the offing. Like Margaret Heffernan once said, “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate”.

Written by Carl Jaison on The Seasonal Magazine, Published on December 16, 2014

SBI looking into work from home option for women employees

Mumbai, December 15:  State Bank of India (SBI) is studying the technological feasibility of allowing women employees to work out of home for some functions. The bank's IT department will advise the management whether it is possible to have systems in place for monitoring and supervising work being done remotely.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, the first woman to head the bank in 208 years, had said that she would be looking at ways to increase retention of women staff. After she took charge, the bank announced that it would allow women to take a two-year sabbatical from work in case they want it for children's education or taking care of parents.

Speaking to TOI while flagging off the SBI Pinkathon, a marathon for women aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer, Bhattacharya said that, while 38-40 per cent of recruits were women, their high dropout rate resulted in women accounting for just of 20 per cent of the workforce.

At present, the strength of women employees in the total workforce of the bank is 45,132, which constitutes more than 20 per cent of the total staff strength of 2,22,033. Bhattacharya said that the dropouts were for various reasons, including looking after children, to relocate or to look after the elderly.

"We try to accommodate staff where transfers are concerned, but right now we are not able to provide flexible timings. We are looking at whether it is technologically possible to allow working from home," said Bhattacharya.

She said that the bank has chosen to support the Pinkathon to raise awareness of women's health.

Recruitment of Assistants in Clerical Cadre in State Bank of India (2014-15)

SBI at last announced for Recruitment of Assistants in Clerical Cadre in State Bank of India (2014-15) Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/2014-15/02 On-line registration of application : 26.05.2014 TO 14.06.2014 for details visit sbi.co.in or click here