Bank officials on poll duty, services hit

KOLKATA: Operations in public sector banks of the state took a hit on Thursday with nearly 10,000 officials being deployed for panchayat election duty. Customers had to wait for hours for basic banking activities like cash withdrawal, cash deposit and passbook update.
Officials said the situation is unlikely to change till the last phase of the polls on July 25.
Retired government employee Arup Dutta was one among many customers who had to return from a State Bank of India branch after failing to get a demand draft done. "I do not know what is going on. Only two persons are working here," said an annoyed Dutta.
Bank officials had no option but to manage with the skeletal staff. "Most of the branches are empty. There are some branches where only the manager and the security staff are on duty. The situation will continue till July 25," said an SBI official.
An Allahabad Bank official said bank staff deployed as election personnel had to first attend a three-day training session and then they were deployed for poll duty in the districts.
"This is a real problem. The deployment is more during panchayat polls since manpower requirement is also higher. The district magistrates have summoned our employees in rural and semi-urban branches. There was state election commission requisition in urban branches too," said a UBI official.While SBI has 1,070 branches in the state, UBI, UCO and Allahabad Bank have 700,
UBI has over 700 branches in Bengal and a considerable part is in semi-urban and rural Bengal. Allahabad Bank has 550 branches in the state with 60% in rural and semi-urban areas. UCO Bank has 206
"People were requisitioned for at least seven days in two-three phases. First, there was three-day training for the election personnel and now, the deployment in the districts," an Allahabad official added.
Bengal came to a halt on Thursday following huge deployment of manpower from public sector banks for the ongoing Panchayat election. Customers had to wait for hours for normal banking activities like cash withdrawal, cash deposit and even passbook updation. The plight of the customers is likely to continue for a few more days till the last phase of the poll July 25.
Arup Dutta, a retired government employee of Jodhpur, was frustrated when he went to a SBI branch for a demand draft but did not get it. "I do not know what is going on. Only two people are working here," he said. Same was the experience for many who visited bank branches on Thursday.
Even as per conservative estimates, over 10,000 people from public sector banks mainly from SBI and three city-headquartered banks were requisitioned from the State Election Commission for the poll. An SBI official said for last two days a lot of branches are working with skeleton staff strength and the customers are suffering.
SBI has 1,070 branches in Bengal. "Most of the branches are empty today. Even there are some branches where only the manager and the security staff are on duty on Thursday. The situation would continue till July 25. Now there is hardly any people to man the branches," he added. The story is same for UBI, Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank.
"This is a real problem. The deployment is more for Panchyat polls as the manpower requirement is also more. The district magistrates have summoned our employees in rural and semi-urban branches. There were SEC requisition in urban branches too," an UBI official said. UBI has over 700 branches in Bengal and a considerable part is in semi-urban and rural Bengal. Allahabad Bank has 550 branches in the state with 60% in rural and semi-urban areas. UCO Bank has 206 rural branches in the state in six zones. SEC has requisitioned people from almost all the branches of these banks for poll.
"People were requisitioned for at least seven days in two-three phases. First, there was three-day training for the election personnel and now, the deployment in the districts," an Allahabad official added.