Civil society organisation urges Bengal CM to block SBI's plan to shift key operations from Kolkata

Kolkata: A civil society organisation on Tuesday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to intervene in the State Bank of India's decision to shift if Global Market Unit (GMU) and other core operations from Kolkata to Mumbai.

In a letter to the chief minister, 'Bank Bachao Desh Bachao Manch' expressed concern over the "arbitrary" move by SBI to relocate key functions, including the GMU and three Centralised Processing Cells — Liability Central Processing Cell (LCPC), Centralised Cheque Processing Cell (CCPC), and Centralised Pension Processing Cell (CPPC) — from Kolkata, alleging that it would directly impact employment and state revenue.

"This violates the tripartite agreement signed in March 2008 between the bank management and both officers' and staff federations, which had clearly stated that the forex treasury would continue to operate from Kolkata. The Central Global Back Office was also set up within GMU Kolkata in 2015 to strengthen Kolkata’s role in global banking operations," the letter said.

Soumya Datta, one of the convenors of the Manch, said, "Nearly 150 permanent and over 200 casual employees will be directly impacted. More than 600 families will suffer. The state's exchequer will lose around Rs 25 crore annually in GST revenue from these units."

The Manch demanded that the CM press for immediate steps to halt the relocation, implement the bank's past commitment to restore 50 per cent of forex operations to Kolkata and bring back the Income Tax and Government Accounts sections, among others, to Kolkata.

"... we urge the chief minister to protect Bengal's interests and ensure Kolkata's rightful role in India’s banking ecosystem is preserved," the letter said.

The SBI has recently stated that decisions regarding the opening, shifting, or rationalisation of branches and offices are part of an ongoing business process based on evolving operational and administrative needs.