“We Will Not Work Under Pressure”: Bank Managers Walk Out of Meeting

Hapur: A meeting was called on Wednesday regarding the Chief Minister’s Yuva Udyami Scheme (CM YUVA). All the Bank Managers in the district were called in the meeting and the government officials were not happy with the performance. The incident happened in Hapur.

Hapur is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is Located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of New Delhi.

CM YUVA is a flagship scheme of the Government aimed at providing financial support to Youth across the state. The scheme aims at providing financial support so that the Youth can establish their own business and earn livelihood.

But there’s a twist in that. The scheme has been well popularised amongst the Youth and the needy people are taking Financial support from Banks. But the local administration is sometimes seen forcing Bank managers to sanction maximum number of loans under this scheme.

Banks have a well defined structure for loan processing and Bank Employees sanction loans of viable projects but the local administration sometimes forces bank employees to sanction all loans. This may include some loans which are totally not viable for finance and may ultimately lead to misuse of public money.

An incident has been reported in Hapur wherein Chief Development Officer (CDO) called a meeting of all Bank Managers in the district. In the meeting, CDO ordered Bank Managers to sanction maximum loans under this scheme. CDO even ordered Bank Employees to stay in the meeting hall until the loans are sanctioned.

This infuriated Bank Mangers and they left the meeting midway and walked out of meeting hall. They said – “We will not work under pressure – whatever happens”. Bank Officials said – “Let anyone do whatever they want, we won’t work under pressure.”

Earlier also such incidents happened in Ghaziabad and other districts of Uttar Pradesh wherein local administration tried to pressurise Bank Managers to sanction loans under Government Scheme.

The CDO viewed the bank management’s behavior as indiscipline and lack of interest in the government’s campaign. He informed the District Magistrate and is sending a report to the government against the managers of Prathama Bank.

The scheme was launched by the government with the aim of providing employment to youth. A total of 32 bank managers attended the meeting, 16 of whom were from Prathama Bank.

The meeting was called to review progress on the CM YUVA scheme. All managers were instructed to meet their targets. They were told that until the targets are met, everyone must remain present in the meeting. In the afternoon, the managers of Prathama Bank decided to leave the meeting and said they will not work under pressure.

Lead Bank Manager Rajeev Gupta said that bank managers are being asked to identify eligible applicants and complete files. He added that identifying beneficiaries and completing files is not the bank’s job and that the administration is creating unnecessary pressure.