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SBI: Understaffing in Branches, RTI Spark Concerns on Officer Disparities
RTI exposes stark officer imbalances in SBI, with 74,783 in branches and 29,757 in admin offices, sparking concerns of understaffed branches and work-life imbalance.
Author: Saurav Kumar
Published: December 29, 2023
A recent RTI disclosure sheds light on staffing disparities within the State Bank of India (SBI), indicating a shortage of officers in bank branches. The document exposes the distribution of officers across SBI's branches and administrative offices.
Image: RTI information on the Officers in SBI Branches and Administrative Offices
The revealed data discloses a total of 1,05,786 officers in the SBI, with 74,783 stationed in branches and 29,757 in administrative offices.
However, banking professionals argue that the RTI figures underscore a pressing issue in bank branches.
Concerns Over Understaffed Branches
Understaffed bank branches are identified as a primary cause of the overwhelming workloads faced by bankers. An anonymous SBI official emphasised, “Bank branches are pivotal for customer core banking services but severely lack workforce, resulting in an overload of officials. Moreover, officers in administrative offices dictate orders to branches, compounding the challenges faced by bankers.”
Commenting on the RTI on SBI officers, We Bankers told Kanal, “Branches are understaffed, whereas most of the officers are posted in administrative offices of the bank which is unnecessary. As PSBs are already facing acute shortage of manpower and such discriminatory arrangements are leading to resignation of many bankers as per RTI reply.”
“Those officers posted in the administrative offices are creating pressure on branches and creating pressure to meet unrealistic target achievements”, added We Bankers.
We Bankers contended that the SBI lacks equal job distribution across cadres, resulting in undue pressure on branch staff. They advocated for an increase in officers in branches to enhance day-to-day operations and promote a healthier work-life balance.
Challenges within the SBI
It’s noteworthy that the SBI has faced challenges in recent years, with reports of turbulent working conditions affecting both employees and officials. Instances of work-life imbalance led to resignation and mandatory weekend work in branches has raised concerns about the bank’s operational efficiency.
A recent RTI revealed that a total of 713 Probationary Officers (POs) resigned from the SBI in the last five years. Additionally, concerns about employee shortages in India’s largest public sector bank, SBI, have been raised by bank unions in the recent past.