This is a guest post by Sher Shah
JK bank Celebrating 75 years
The Kashmiri people are very proud of their Valley and its beauty. If you happen to have a Kashmiri friend or have met a kashmiri you would have seen and observed how proudly they boost about it. The only other thing that Kashmiris seems to feel proud about is Jammu & Kashmir Bank. The reason a kashmiri is so fond of this bank is because they feel like it is their bank and when they are talking about the JK Bank, a Kashmiri wont miss to mention to his non-Kashmiri friend the long list of awards which the bank has won ( Some people are of the opinion that the only reason JK Bank got these awards was because they themselves sponsor the whole event!).
The institution which the kashmiri’s are so found of, the only pioneer & benchmark in the corporate arena of J&K State, and its management has very shrewdly exploited the situation of unemployment in this State. Why should one blame the Indian Inc, when our own JK Bank has exploited & betrayed 100’s of qualified & professional youth.
In 2010, JK Bank vide notification no HRD/CDW/2010-2692, Dated 26-09-2010 advertised the posts of banking associates in the normal pay scale (which in that advertisement was given as Rs. 7200-24900). 1000’s of candidates were called for interview after they qualified written test. Among this lot were 100’s of MBA’s, engineers, LLB’s etc who left their jobs outside the state, to prepare for the interviews so that they can work for JK Bank, knowing that they will get a good salary. However, the shocker came when the qualified candidates received their offer letters, Instead of the pay scale advertised, the offer letter mentioned the salary as a consolidated amount of Rs. 9000 and cash in hand would be around Rs. 8000 per month for 6 Months of probation. People felt betrayed but still joined believing that everything will be okay after 6 months of probation. However, more than 10 months passed and there was no communication from the Human Resource department about confirmation. But when the order (circular) for confirmation came in the month of November 2012 and effect was given from September 2012. In the circular it was mentioned that the bank had taken 9 months as probation period instead of 6 months which was communicated to us. To add insult, when it was calculated the probationary period actually served comes to 10 months, so time and again JK Bank management is doing as it wishes with no regard for law. People continue to work long hours and are paid peanuts, which won’t be possible in any other State but JK Bank knows very well that these banking associates have no other option here, so they have went on exploiting them so that they can save from their salary bill and add more to the profits. Every banking associate feels cheated & exploited by their own JK Bank, so how can this bank expect any kind of loyalty or extra effort from these employees in future or in times of need.
Many candidated can’t even meet the EMI of their education loan, no to talk of helping their families financially. Now JK Bank has advertised Relationship Executive (RE) posts and these RE’s will be exploited for 2 years, given a consolidated pocket money and these 2 years won’t be calculated in their service. Every other bank hires officers and does not exploit them but JK Bank knows people will join them keeping in view unemployment scenario of state so they can go on exploiting them so as to add to their profits. The attitude of Management is such that they have not bothered to disclose the number of RE’s to be appointed, so candidates can’t even work out the probabilities of selection. The recruitment process will be done in a clandestine manner (Word is already on the street that the Bank Management is demanding a bribe of 7 lac rupees for appointment as RE) and the bank will do whatever it wants as it is the one eyed king in this country of blind.
AlhaquMurun (Truth Is Bitter) 