Cashiers, peon among those penalised for bank NPAs in FY18, reveals RTI

FMs' statements in the Lok Sabha show that 41,360 public-sector bank employees have been held responsible and penalised for NPAs in last 5 financial years, including 6,049 in 2017-18

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha on public-sector banks’ (PSBs’) declining profits, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley had said in December 2018 that 6,049 PSB officials had been penalised for rising non-performing assets (NPAs) in 2017-18. However, not all of these employees were managers — some were single-window operators, cashiers, even a peon— show data obtained through right to information (RTI) applications.

State-owned banks account for around 90 per cent of the combined NPAs of the country’s scheduled commercial banks.

Jaitley had said: “Depending on the gravity of their lapses, minor or major penalty has been imposed