COVID-19 | Finance Ministry asks states, UTs to prioritise vaccination of bank employees

Family members of COVID-19 victims perform a cremation ceremony in Delhi on May 6, 2021. (Image by Atul Loke © 2021 The New York Times)

The Finance Ministry has asked all state governments and union territories to give instructions to prioritise vaccination of bank employees and other financial services industry professionals such as insurers, payment service providers and bank mitras.

Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary, Debasish Panda in a Tweet on May 14 said, all state/UT governments are requested to instruct local authorities to provide bank employees and other financial services professionals with the necessary help and support in ensuring the delivery of banking and financial services. Vaccinating them on priority will mitigate their high exposure to risk in the delivery of public service.

Panda has sent an official letter to chief secretaries of all states and union territories seeking vaccination of bank employees on priority. "I once again requests you to kindly consider putting in place a special dispensation for vaccination of these employees on priority," he said in the letter. "This would go a long way in boosting their morale and enhancing their enthusiasm for seamless provision of financial services," he said.

On May 13, Moneycontrol had reported about the plight of bank employees suffering from COVID infections.  Around one-and-half lakh bank employees have been affected by the coronavirus so far across different banks. Among them, around 1,200 employees have already succumbed to the deadly virus, according to data compiled by the All India Bank Employee Association (AIBEA), the report said.

“Kudos to our Bankers, Insurers, Payment Service Providers, Bank Mitras for ensuring uninterrupted delivery of banking and financial services to people in need during these challenging times,” Panda said in his tweet.

"All state/UT governments are requested to instruct local authorities to provide them necessary help and support in ensuring delivery of banking and financial services. Vaccinating them on priority will mitigate their high exposure to risk in delivery of public service," said Panda.

Bank employees face a crisis

Banks employees have been one of the most vulnerable segments to the COVID infections due to the nature of their work. Since banking is an essential services, banks have been asking some of their employees, at least 50 percent of the strength, to attend branches to attend customers. Banks often force employees to attend office and those who do not comply face penal actions. This is despite the fact that much of the bank work can be done digitally, without endangering the lives of the staff.

Employees are caught in a spot and many are declining transfers from hometowns to metro areas, fearing COVID-19. On the other hand, there are people in cities who have completed their tenure and waiting for transfer to the safety of their home towns. Typically, a bank employee serves in a branch for a maximum of three years. But employees have been pushing for work from home citing increased risk of COVID infections.

According to the data provided by the employee unions, in the Central Bank of India, so far 4,878 employees have been affected so far and 94 have died due to COVID. Out of the total deaths, Ahmedabad and Chennai centres have seen maximum deaths, followed by Bhopal, Pune and Delhi, according to the association. In State Bank of India (SBI) Chennai circle alone, over 2,000 employees have been infected and 11 lost lives.

In April, the Maha Gujarat Bank Employees' Association (MGBEA) said nearly 15,000 employees had tested positive in Gujarat and more than 30 of them died during the second wave. Nearly 10,000 employees were infected in March across the state, the association said. In February, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) said 600 employees had died till December. But, this toll has gone up since then.

Most state-run banks have announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakhs each to the families of the employees who died due to COVID. Central Bank of India, last year, had announced a scheme under which Rs 20 lakhs will be paid to the family of the deceased in the case of a COVID death. SBI, too, has announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakhs to families of those employees who died due to COVID. A similar scheme has been announced by Canara Bank and Union Bank of India as well.