Banks to discuss human resource issues with FM

Vacancies, NPS to be taken up in a meeting tomorrow.

Issues related to human resources (HR) management in public sector banks and implementation of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) will top the agenda of bank chiefs’ meeting with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday. Apart from the usual agenda on the financial performance of banks, the minister will seek an update on decisions taken at the zonal meetings with chief ministers.

With a lot of senior people in the banks retiring or going to and many more quitting for greener pastures, banks are faced with an acute shortage of staff. High attrition and retirements have created a vacuum at the top and middle levels in the system. Bankers are seeing personnel issues as a new risk factor in the sector. The issue will be highlighted in the meeting.

As the NPS has not picked up, despite the government’s efforts, Mukherjee is likely to ask banks to make more of their branches NPS-enabled. A majority of public sector banks had been registered as points of presence (PoPs) for its implementation. However, only a few branches of these banks are NPS-enabled. The banking division has already written to the banks in this regard.

Credit flow to various sectors like housing, agriculture, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, education and minority communities, as well as implementation of the interest subsidy scheme on housing for the urban poor and the financial inclusion plan for 2010-12 will be discussed.

The issues were initially planned to be taken up at the four zonal meetings in Patna, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad in the past two months. However, the items could not be taken up in these meetings due to a lack of time. The meeting assumes significance, as it comes about three weeks after the Reserve Bank of India increased its policy rates, fuelling speculation of a rise in interest rates.

In the zonal meetings, the finance minister had directed the banks to increase the number and amount of loans on Kisan Credit Cards by 20 per cent this financial year. He had also asked the banks with licences to open more branches this year, so that the government’s financial inclusion objectives were met.