There is a wave of resentment among bank staffers over the efforts of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) cadres to forcefully impose Marathi on them. The Bank of Maharashtra Officers’ Association has sent a strongly-worded letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis drawing his attention to the violent tactics employed by MNS workers over the past few days in Mumbai, Thane and Pune. In the past, MNS workers had assaulted several candidates from the north who had arrived in the city to appear in railway exams. They had chanted the slogan “Verma, Sharma chale jao.” Now, the party has revived its campaign afresh under the guise of promoting Marathi language.
Association chairman Rajeev Tamhane said the staff “come from diverse linguistic backgrounds and hold transferable jobs…and it would be impractical to expect every officer to learn the local language.” Soon after the MNS’ Gudi Padwa rally in Mumbai, party workers have been going in groups to different nationalised bank branches and demanding that non-Marathi staff speak Marathi and conduct all bank activities in the local language. In several cases, the bank staffers were also beaten up in full view of video cameras. The visuals have gone viral creating fear in the minds of bank staff.
Tamhane said “some anti-social elements are indulging in acts such as threatening and beating up bank officials. We condemn such criminal activity impacting day-to-day functioning and customer service at banks.”
The State Level Bankers’ Committee sent an urgent missive to Sujata Saunik, chief secretary, seeking her immediate intervention “to ensure the safety and dignity of bank staff in Maharashtra.” Committee convenor Chitra Datar said “there have been multiple instances where bank staff have been subjected to verbal abuse, intimidation and even physical threats over the insistence on the compulsory use of Marathi in routine banking operations. We deeply respect and support the promotion of the local language, but such imposition in a threatening manner disrupts the professional functioning of banks which operate under national guidelines and regulations.”
The United Forum of Bank Unions said while it supported the need to increase the use of Marathi in bank transactions, it condemned the abuse of bank staff and violent attacks on them. Forum convenor Devidas Tulzapurkar noted while recruitment is being made for the post of clerks and peons, banks do insist on knowledge of Marathi, but officers are appointed on the basis of all-India selection on merit. “Marathi people do not pass these exams to the expected level. To ensure that special training needs to be given to them. How can non-Marathi officers, who are selected on merit, be kept away? The MNS was only indulging in a stunt.”
Tulzapurkar said in as many as 12 PSU banks’ boards there were no Marathi directors. MNS should take up this issue, instead of targeting bank staffers at lower levels. Meanwhile, BJP workers are worried that the failure of the state government to prevent attacks on bank officers will reflect poorly on the party’s government.
