The Reserve Bank of India has stated under the Right to Information that a total of 2,118 banking branches of 10 state-run banks were either closed forever or merged with other bank branches in the financial year 2020-21. Neemuch’s RTI activist Chandrasekhar Gaur told “PTI-Bhasha” on Sunday that the Reserve Bank has given him this information under the Right to Information Act.
See how many branches of which bank are closed
According to this information, in the financial year 2020-21, the closure of the branch or merger process ended the existence of maximum 1,283 branches of Bank of Baroda. With this process, 332 of State Bank of India, 169 of Punjab National Bank, 124 of Union Bank of India, 107 of Canara Bank, 53 of Indian Overseas Bank, 43 of Central Bank of India, five of Indian Bank and Bank of Maharashtra and One branch each of Punjab and Sindh Bank closed.
No branches of Bank of India and UCO Bank closed
It is not clear in the details how many branches of these banks were closed forever and how many branches were merged with other branches during the reporting period. The Reserve Bank said under RTI that no branches of Bank of India and UCO Bank were closed in the financial year 2020-21, which ended on 31 March.
In the reply given under RTI, no reason has been given for the closure of the branches of the 10 public sector banks or merging them with other branches, but after the implementation of the scheme of the Mahavilaya of the public banks from April 1, 2020, the number of branches Rationalization is believed to be the biggest reason for this. It is worth mentioning that in the last financial year, the government had merged 10 state-run banks and converted them into four big banks. After this, the number of public sector banks has come down to 12.
From April 1, 2020, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India merged into Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank to Canara Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank to Indian Bank. Was. Meanwhile, All India Bank Employees Union (AIBEA) general secretary CH Venkatachalam told “PTI-Bhasha” that the incident in the branches of state-run banks is not in the interest of India’s banking industry as well as the domestic economy and in view of the large population of the country. Needs expansion of bank branches. Venkatachalam said, “With the reduction of branches in public sector banks, there is a continuous cut in new jobs in the banking industry, which has left many young people disappointed. There has been a huge reduction in new recruits in public sector banks in the last three years.”
On the other hand, economist Jayantilal Bhandari justifies the government’s move to merge public sector banks. He said, “To give a boost to the economy of the country, we need strong public sector banks of small size rather than weak public sector banks.”
