Against the backdrop of government’s move which may result in merger of State Bank of India’s associate banks to the parent company, the All India Bank Employees’ Association has approached finance minister Arun Jaitley. In a memorandum submitted to the minister, the association urged to delink the associate banks from the State Bank of India and make them standalone independent banks, in order to enable them to grow and progress to their optimum potential. According to it, had the associate banks been given more functional autonomy and operational flexibility sans SBI’s control, they would have grown further. AIBEA pointed that many nationalised banks which were smaller than SBI’s associates have overgrown them because of their independence and flexibility to do business. In another memorandum, AIBEA urged the government to reconsider its decision to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank to 50%.
