Recently a bank employee Rajat Chawdhury in West Bengal’s Howrah district had committed suicide for being wrongly accused in a case of exchanging of currency notes and someone in the bank had forced him to sign a blank document. It is true that there are some black sheep among the bank employees and officers but just because of that one cannot paint all of the bank employees and officers with one tainted brush that results a bank employee to take such a harsh step to end his life. Like Rajat Chowdhury there are many who have worked honestly during the recent crisis after demonetisation. While the culprits deserve severe punishment those who have worked hard should be compensated. No one talks about the unlucky bank officers who have lost their lives due to stress and strain of working behind the counters. According to me, their kith and kin should be adequately compensated too. They should not die in vain. Given the problems the banks’ staff have to face with some unruly customers even today and it is commendable that they are serving them with a smile and are also working overtime (several extra hours per week) without additional wages. Bank employees are feeling increasingly targeted in the face of public anger.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
