Public Sector Bank Privatisation: IOB, CBI Employees Hunting For Jobs At Bigger Banks Like SBI, Claims Report

Amid reports of Niti Aayog shortlisting banks like Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) for public sector bank (PSB) privatisation, many of its employees have now started searching for jobs at bigger banks like the State Bank of India (SBI), Moneycontrol has reported.

The report claims that while many employees are looking to switch to bigger PSBs, others are waiting to see the details of a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) which is expected to be launched by the management to make the banks attractive to private buyers. The report adds that some employees may already have secured employment at other banks.

Reports have claimed that Niti Aayog may recommend a one year job security at the banks post privatisation.

Central Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank and Bank of India are a few PSBs that are rumoured to have been recommended for privatisation by the NITI Aayog to a high-level committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared in her Budget speech earlier this year that the central government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the current financial year.

Two PSBs and a solitary general insurance company are proposed to be privatised to meet this objective.

It has been speculated that recently merged banks like Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and India's largest bank SBI are not going to be affected by the planned privatisation drive.