Though Thrissur based Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd has reduced its loss by 86.
35 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year 2012-13, it seems that the bank is still not absolved from the controversies.
Alleging manipulations in the balance sheet, the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) has sent a letter to the Reserve Bank of India on August 26 seeking its intervention in the bank’s activities.
Adding fuel to the existing problems, as many as 47 cost to company (CTC) employees are staging a relay hunger strike at the head office in Thrissur.
K V George, general secretary of BEFI, said that the bank could not conduct proper business in the last six months owing to the problems of the various stakeholders.
The actual loss incurred is higher than what is reported.
“It is evident that the malpractice in the balance sheet has led to the resignation of the auditors Walker Chandiok and Co.
and audit consultancy Grant Thornton Advisory Pvt.
Ltd in early August.
We now doubt that the bank will be acquired in the near future,” he said.
The bank was steeped in controversy when mass transfer orders were earlier given to 93 CTC employees in the state to northern parts of the country.
The CTC employees have been on a strike for the past 54 days.
“The management was not ready to pay attention to the plight of the 47 employees.
They have not received salary for the last two months,” R Sivakumar, joint convener of Dhanlaxmi Bank CTC Employees Co-ordination Committee.
Following the resignation of Amitabh Chaturvedi on February 06, P G Jayakumar has been appointed as the managing director and the CEO of the bank with effect from May 18 this year.
According to the sources, the bank had surrendered 16 high rented buildings and reduced the expenses by almost 40 per cent.
The salary has been reduced by 10 to 40 percent.
As many as 1,300 employees have left the bank in a span of five months and the exodus still continues and the staff strength now stands at 2,900.
P G Jayakumar, current MD and CEO, said that groups with hidden political agenda are behind the controversies.
“Dhanlaxmi is the banker to 40,000 odd self-help groups in the state.
The employees are bound to obey the transfer orders.
We are trying to bring back the old customers to the bank and have been successful so far,” he said.