Bank unions, including the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) employees union, have demanded action against S Gurumurthy, a director on the Central Board of the RBI, for making "indecent and nasty remarks" about public sector bank employees in a function in Chennai. Coincidentally, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman was present at the event Gurumurthy made the remarks at the 52nd anniversary celebrations of Tamil magazine Thuglak.
In his speech, Gurumurthy used the Tamil word 'Kazhisadai' (translated as (scum/filth) to describe bank employees.
"Talented employees in public sector banks are leaving their jobs since the package is very low and they cannot act independently. Now, all we are left with "Kazhisadaigal" only, and it is with them that the country has to compete globally in the financial sector," he said.
His comments have since received backlash from various quarters, including bank unions and opposition leaders, with the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) asking for his resignation from the RBI Board.
"We did not expect this kind of words from a person like him who is holding one of the highest offices in the RBI and that too in the presence of Honorable Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman, who saluted bank employees for their selfless service during the pandemic period," reads a statement released by All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), Tamil Nadu state unit.
CH Venkatachalam, AIBEA general secretary, termed Gurumurthy's comments "dirty and derogatory" while demanding an immediate apology. Venkatachalam declared that Gurumurthy is unfit to be on RBI Board and "the government should remove him from this important post."
Vishwas Utagi, former VP of AIBEA and co-convener, the Trade Union Joint Action Committee (Maharashtra), condemned Gurumurthy's remarks and highlighted his ideological hypocrisy.
"He promoted the ideas of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch in the past four decades and now advocates outright liberalisation and privatisation of the public section by occupying the RBI seat. Gurumurthy is shallow in his understanding of the Indian economy and hence does not deserve his seat on RBI. In fact, now RBI and Central government must sack him," Utagi said.
Utagi further said that when many weaknesses have been highlighted in the private sector banking, PSU Banks and their workforce must be recognised for their hard work.
"Without government's support, these private banks and NBFCs would have collapsed like a pack of cards," he said.
Samir Ghosh, General Secretary, All India Reserve Bank Employees Association, in a letter to the FM, also asked her to set an example by taking appropriate action against Gurumuthy "for his aforesaid action, tarnishing the image of the RBI and also understandable, putting the Ministry of Finance at unease."
The comments have also received condemnation from political quarters. In a letter to FM, CPIM Madurai MP Su Venkatesan declared that Gurumurthy's speech was not dignified.
"Bank employees are under your ministry and they have rendered wonderful service to the people during the pandemic despite many odds, which was recognised by you in the meeting itself,” the MP said in the letter.
Another MP, K Subbarayan, said that Gurumuthy's comments were unrestrained and callous, and he must apologise to the workforce of the nationalised banks.
After the backlash, Gurumurthy has gone back on his words and offered a clarification in a note to the Thuglak magazine.
"At the 52nd anniversary celebrations of Tamil weekly Thuglak, I had spoken about how nationalised banks are becoming weak and accumulating bad debts, while private banks were taking all their talented staff. The intent of my speech has been buried by my controversy, which has been sparked by focusing on just one word that I had used to make my point," he wrote in the clarification, adding that his words "were not intended to hurt anybody."
