Bank Officers Face Language-Based Threats Across Maharashtra: AIBOC Seeks Urgent Govt Intervention

In a strongly-worded appeal to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Shri Eknath Shinde, the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) – Maharashtra State Unit – has raised serious concerns. There are increasing incidents of intimidation and assault on bank officials, allegedly by political activists enforcing language preferences.

The confederation, representing over 30,000 officers, highlighted a disturbing trend of aggression targeting bank staff over the use of languages other than Marathi. The letter, dated April 15, 2025, warns of a deteriorating work environment marked by verbal abuse, coercion, and even physical attacks.

Image: AIBOC Maharashtra-I's Secretary, Nilesh Pawar presents memorandum to Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar regarding bank staff safety

Language Tensions Escalate into Violence
The confederation’s letter details how certain political activists are insisting that bank employees speak only in Marathi, labelling the use of other languages—especially Hindi—as an affront to Marathi identity. While acknowledging the importance of Marathi in Maharashtra, AIBOC emphasized that All India Service officers—often posted from across the country—cannot be expected to become fluent immediately.

“The pressure to speak in Marathi, regardless of one’s background or fluency, is unfair and dehumanizing,” the letter notes.

This cultural coercion, it adds, has not remained limited to verbal demands. On April 6, 2025, a Canara Bank employee in Hinganghat, Nagpur, was physically attacked—one of 12 such cases documented by AIBOC across districts like Jalna, Dharashiv, Pune, Beed, Latur, Solapur, Mumbai, and Nagpur between August 2024 and April 2025.

Image: AIBOC list of reported Incidents targeting bank staff for non-Marathi communication

A Pattern of Intimidation
The affected branches include Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, and Canara Bank. In one shocking incident at the Bank of Maharashtra’s Lonavla branch, even a Marathi-speaking employee was manhandled for allegedly not meeting linguistic expectations.

AIBOC warned that such incidents undermine the spirit of India’s Tri-lingual Policy, which allows communication in Hindi, English, and the regional language in public service institutions. “Our officers respect and adopt local culture, but coercion violates constitutional principles and professional ethics,” the letter states.

“Protect the Banker, Protect the Backbone of the Economy”
Vitthal Mane, the Organising Secretary, AIBOC, Maharashtra 1 and also the Convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions (Pune) in conversation with Kanal said: “Those who safeguard the nation’s economy deserve protection as much as those who guard its borders. Protect the banker, protect the backbone of the Indian economy. No banker should fear for life while securing the future of others.”

He added that while prioritizing Marathi in Maharashtra is justified and respected, violence and threats are unacceptable: “Political stunts like intimidating officers at branch level achieve nothing. Language advocacy must happen institutionally, not forcefully.”

National Service, Not Regional Conflict
Mane emphasized that banking is a national service, and any regional concerns about language must be resolved through cooperation: “Banking services are national. Just as officers from Maharashtra work across India, officers from other states serve here. Language expectations should be handled with collaboration—not threats.”

He also addressed the core issue of recruitment, saying: “There hasn’t been fresh recruitment in years. Thousands of educated Marathi youth are waiting for jobs. Let political leaders raise these recruitment issues instead of turning bankers into soft targets.”

Demands for Government Action
To restore safety and dignity in banking workplaces, AIBOC has proposed five key measures:

• Increased police protection at vulnerable branches
• Non-bailable FIRs and strict legal action against aggressors
• Reaffirmation and implementation of the Tri-lingual Policy
• Recommendations to the Finance Ministry for language-based transfer policies
• SLBC-mandated deployment of additional security personnel at risk-prone locations

Image: AIBOC Maharashtra’s letter to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde on language-based attacks

Policy Pending, Banking on Protection
While the Department of Financial Services has issued guidelines on region-based transfers, implementation remains incomplete. In the meantime, growing hostility is taking a toll on employee morale and threatens to interrupt critical banking services to the public.

Bank unions say they are not seeking special treatment—just basic safety and respect.

“We serve the state, not with fear, but with dedication. We now seek safety, not privilege,” said Nilesh Pawar, State Secretary, AIBOC MS-1.

The banking sector now awaits urgent, firm action from the Maharashtra government to prevent further violence and safeguard the democratic values of linguistic harmony and national service.