Never-ending Cases of Bankers’ Suicides and Attempts: What Makes Bankers’ Lives Miserable?

Not long ago, another case from Ernakulam made headlines: a Regional Manager of another public sector bank verbally abused a female employee using vulgar language in front of customers. The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) staged a protest against him. His reputation for mistreating subordinates was well known.

“All Branch Managers are strictly warned to immediately ensure a minimum of 6-7 Savings Accounts and 1 Current Account daily and to disburse loans daily to achieve targets. Any disobedience will invite serious consequences.”

In effect, failure to open at least seven savings accounts and one current account daily—and to sanction loans based on arbitrary targets—would invite harsh punishment.

Adding to this absurdity, the bank also served a show-cause notice to the General Secretary of a registered trade union for taking leave to attend a meeting convened by the Central Regional Labour Commissioner. In another case, three officers from branches in Kollengode, Kozhikode, and Karuvannur were transferred to remote branches in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha for the “crime” of pointing out system flaws during a video conference.

Equally shocking was the transfer of a 57-year-old widow, already battling severe health issues, to a branch in Tamil Nadu. Her condition worsened, and she eventually lost her life. Last year, a young officer from the Perumbavoor branch ended his life. His wife had succumbed to cancer months earlier, leaving him with two small children. Despite his request for a transfer to Thrissur to care for them—and even his application for eligible leave—the bank showed no compassion.

These cases are not confined to Kerala. Across India, similar stories emerge.

In Gujarat, a young bank employee stood on a railway track on his wedding anniversary after a senior officer threatened to ruin his career. “I can’t bear this anymore. I’ve lost the will to live,” he told the officer over the phone, his voice trembling. This call, along with a previous one where the officer abused him, became public. Thankfully, colleagues reached him in time, and he eventually returned home. This happened on April 26, 2024.

Just two months earlier, in February 2024, a Chief Manager in Gujarat took his own life, leaving a note that blamed toxic work culture and impossible workloads: “Employees should not be given impossible targets and terrorised, or others like me will be driven to suicide.” Two weeks later, a branch manager in Tamil Nadu ended his life, leaving behind his one-year-old daughter.

In another tragic case, a bank manager jumped in front of a train, writing in his note that his body should be left to street dogs—a chilling reflection of the despair caused by workplace harassment.

The list is endless. In August 2023 alone, five bank employees died by suicide in a single week. In April 2024, two more cases were reported, and in May 2024, another branch manager ended his life due to target-related depression. An estimate suggests that around 500 bank employees in India have taken their lives in the last decade due to work-related stress, harassment, or abuse. In several instances, families filed abetment-to-suicide cases against senior officials, some of whom were arrested.

Today, a life that could have been lost was narrowly saved. But such incidents cannot be allowed to recur. It is high time organisations across the banking sector united to resist the callousness of individuals who enforce inhumane policies in the name of neoliberal capitalist reforms. Unless urgent corrective measures are taken, many more precious lives will continue to be destroyed.

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Kanal Media.)