Major bank union threatens to 'review' cooperation to demonetisation

AIBEA General Secretary says there will be a 'circus' within the bank branches if the government implements the idea of indelible ink on people

A major bank employees union said it will have to "review" cooperation extended to the demonetisation efforts of the central government if the employees' burden is increased further.

"I may have to review the cooperation extended to the demonetisation efforts if the employees are put to undue stress and difficulty. There is a limit to elasticity," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) told IANS on Tuesday.

"Further there will be a circus within the bank branches if the government implements the idea of indelible ink on people exchanging the invalid 500 and 1,000 rupee notes," he added.

"The government can also have a ballot box inside the bank branches," another banker quipped.

According to Venkatachalam, there should be a software/technological solution rather than the indelible ink.

"The technological solution should be such that once the data is fed into a bank branch system it should get reflected in the systems of all other bank branch computer terminals," he said.

According to him, the central government has asked Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to instruct member banks to deploy staff on shift basis if banks have to function longer hours.

The government has also asked IBA to install additional terminals, and hire retired bankers to ease the situation.

Venkatachalam said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the central government should ensure sufficient supply of currency notes so that people can exchange their old notes.

Officials of public sector banks also wondered how private sector banks are able to get currency supplies whereas they are not able to get needed cash.