All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) in a joint request with other bankers' union to Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India to put hold on the transfer of public sector bank officials for a year. Copy of the letter has also been sent to the Chairman, SBI and MD&CEOs of all banks. The content of the letter is here by below :
The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in an unprecedented disruption to the economic activity in the country and the Government
of India has extended nationwide lockdown till 17thMay 2020 with all possibility of a further extension to contain the outbreak
of the dreaded disease. The logistics, movement of people across the country has taken a huge hit. With each passing day,
there is an exponential growth in numbers of people affected with the virus taking its toll every day with a record high. As
per the opinion of the experts, the peak is likely to come at the end of June/July 2020. Restoration of normalcy may take
several months, if not years, till a vaccine is discovered and made available for the populace to halt the community spread.
2. In terms of extant guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission, rotational transfer of officers continuing beyond three
years may be strictly carried out from sensitive seats/posts. It has further been clarified that the commission’s advice is for
change from the sensitive seat/post, and not necessarily from the station, which is to be governed by the policy of the
respective Institution. Banks are following this in letter and spirit in all posts to ensure gaining of knowledge and rotation of
job as well as varied exposure in different areas of operations and geographies. It is also pertinent to mention here that more
than 60% of the transfers every year in all banks are on account of compliance of the CVC norms.
3. Almost all the Commercial Banks have planned to restrict the current year’s transfer of officials to the barest minimum in
the wake of the situations arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. This is largely due to the present ban on the
mobility of people and their families, uncertainty as to the date of the lifting of the lockdown and in a conscious bid to contain
the huge overheads arising out of the transfer exercise of the banks.
4. Sir, you will agree that the country is facing an unprecedented situation with no hope of complete and immediate
recovery. Most of this fiscal will be going in recovery in terms of operations coming back to normal. Yet, many apprehend
that in the absence of any vaccine, another lockdown may be underway. In these exceptional circumstances beyond control,
it would be prudent if transfer/postings of officers who have completed 3 years in their present seat/post are put on hold for a
year as an exceptional one-time measure to obviate avoidable discomfort and dislocation of the officers concerned, who are
also carrying a grave risk of getting contaminated.
As per the CVC guidelines, it is mandatory on the part of the banks to transfer all officials holding sensitive positions, who
complete 3 years during this financial year. However, the transfers resulting out of complying CVC guidelines this year will
be detrimental to the interests of the bank and the officers in the following ways:
1. The transfer of officers’ results in heavy expenditure every year. If the transfers under CVC guidelines are deferred for this
year, then over 60 % of the expenditure on transfers can be reduced and this will help in pruning down avoidable
expenditure during these difficult times.
2. Normally the transfer exercise will be completed before June end and the new incumbents are expected to take up their
responsibilities by the first week of July every year. However this time, we are already in May and the likely date of
implementation of the transfers is uncertain due to the prevailing situation. As a result, the business continuity at the branch
level will get disrupted, if banks largely embark on transfer exercise to comply with the extant CVC guidelines.
3. Moreover, the officers will not get school admission for their children in the mid academic year and find it extremely
difficult to get suitable residential accommodation at the transferee place. The number of such officers under transfer, who
will have to face this eventuality, can be drastically reduced if CVC guideline for the duration of stay in one particular
assignment is put on hold.
4. If Banks have to comply with the extant CVC guidelines, then it will create a situation where those transfers alone will be
more than the stipulated percentage of transfers earmarked for the year in many of the banks. This may result in denial of
transfers to other officers for all genuine reasons and other humanitarian considerations.
In the above backdrop, we fervently appeal to your good office as an exception and purely on the humanitarian ground to
direct all the banks to consider extending the tenure of any officer who has completed three years in a post by minimum one
year.
As the timing of undertaking transfer exercise for this year in all Banks is fast approaching, we request you for early
issuance of your advisory to all the banks in this regard. Read the content of the letter on AIBOC site also.
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