Public sector banks to have attractive pay packages: Report

THIS will be a New Year gift for tens of thousands public sector bank employees! Public sector banks (PSBs) will have far more attractive pay packages with increased bonus, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and other performances-linked variables in 2017-18, Bank Board Bureau (BBB) chairman Vinod Rai said.
"By next fiscal we are looking at a far more attractive package for public sector banks with bonus, ESOPs, performance linked variables -- monetary or non-monetary...
benefits to make it more attractive for professionals to enter PSBs," Rai said in New Delhi at the 97th Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) Foundation Day. "We may not be able to change the fixed income but we are looking at making the variable part of the package more attractive," Rai added.
Rai further said that the government is also looking at appointing full-time director or executive director in the state-run banks, apart from the post of chairman and managing director (CMD).
The executive director or director post is being thought of so that he can be held accountable for the decisions taken at the bank.
"Those people will be appointed who have at least six or more years of service remaining," Rai said.
The Bank Board Bureau is also working upon the proposal of formation of the government stake in the PSBs into a holding company, which will be run by professionals and will make selections of directors and CMDs for the bank.
"Over a period of time, the PSBs may go into mergers," he added.
To deal with the menace of growing non-performing assets (NPAs), Rai said that he was looking at a scenario wherein the banks are run by boards, who take the risk of decision-making.
"We are trying to collate people who will be willing to join the boards of PSBs. Effort is to ensure that the banks are indeed run by boards comprising of professionals," he said.
He also spoke of formation of an oversight committee for both private and public sector banks which will help the banks resolve their bad loan cases.
"The attempt is to provide an oversight committee of two people to whom cases will be sent to resolve the processes. The case then has to come back to the board because ultimately the bank has to take the decision," he said.
Pitching for transparency in decision making, Rai said that every organisation should be able to withstand the test of scrutiny.