J&K Grameen Bank Temporary Staff Association Successfully Foils Abrupt Transfer of Daily Wage Workers

Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank (JKGB) recently experienced a significant event concerning its daily wage workers. On July 30, 2024, an abrupt transfer of 20 workers by the outsourcing agency, B.D. Security Limited, caused widespread panic among the staff, highlighting a lack of safeguarding measures by the bank management.

The abrupt transfer led to an uproar among the employees, prompting immediate intervention from the Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank Temporary Staff Association (JKGBTSA), with support from the Jammu Regional Labour Commissioner (RLC). The swift response from the RLC resulted in the restoration of the workers to their respective branches and regions.

Workers Unity Provokes Management

To safeguard the rights of temporary staff, including daily wage workers at the bank, a new body of JKGBTSA was formed on July 17, 2024. Affiliated with the National Federation of Regional Rural Bank Employees (NFRRBE), JKGBTSA has been actively fighting for the implementation of minimum daily wages, which have not been paid since 2019 despite the rightful wages outlined in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) guidelines.

Daily wage workers at JKGB face a significant disparity in minimum wages, earning Rs. 310 against the mandated Rs. 628 as per guidelines set by the NABARD. 

Rashpal Choudhary, President of JKGBTSA, told Kanal, “The transfer order via outsourcing agency is an attempt to murder the democratic norms. The Temporary Staff Association was formed in response to the challenges faced by daily wage workers, including wage disparity and workload. The management did not take well to the unity among daily wagers, leading to these abrupt transfers by the outsourcing agency.”

The transfer order of daily workers posed a significant threat to bank operations. An officer of the JKGB claimed, “Temporary staff serve as the primary point of contact for rural customers, bridging the lingual and behavioural gap between customers and the bank. Their sudden transfer would have disrupted essential customer-bank interactions.”

A member of JKGBTSA noted that most of the transferred workers had been at their respective branches for ten years, and the transfer would have severely impacted their families.

Image: The Transfer order issued by the Outsourcing agency

Allegations of Workers Exploitation

JKGBTSA accused the JKGB management of abusing workers’ rights. As per JKGBTSA members, according to labour norms, daily wage workers should not be required to work beyond business hours without receiving overtime wages. However, they are regularly made to work overtime without proper compensation. 

Labour Authority Scraps Transfer of Workers 

The JKGBTSA quickly brought the grievance of abrupt transfer to the RLC, which on July 31 ordered the bank management and outsourcing agency to maintain the status quo, warning of legal action if the order was violated. 

Rashpal Choudhary, stated that the RLC had categorically mentioned that the conciliation on daily wages was ongoing. Therefore, the service conditions of the workers cannot be altered by the bank or any authority, which led to the restoration of the workers' positions.

Image: RLC order against transfer of daily wagers

The controversy surrounding the transfer of daily wage workers in JKGB has exposed the management's anti-worker stance and underscored the workers' efforts to unionise and demand better working conditions.